I’VE just cancelled all gigs until August, apart from Rebellion punk festival. I can’t believe that will take place either but they are hanging on and hoping for a miracle.

I had 10 planned this month and another 12 in April and they’ve all gone as well. I’m missing the human interaction, the warmth, the communication, the feeling of being among friends, of speaking my mind and making people laugh and think, contributing to society, being part of life.

I'm certain that every single performer out there is feeling the same.

But I am in a far better position to many of my fellow musicians. I’ve been doing this for 40 years and I can deal with a few months with no income.

Many of my musician friends half my age live off their work from week to week and, like millions of people, now have no income at all. But there are no furlough schemes for us and many of the places we perform in are in desperate trouble too.

Mainland Europe values its cultural workers and treats them with respect. I can’t expect the Tory philistines to do the same, so this is a heartfelt plea to all who can afford to help those who need it.

We’ve all moved online now. There are gigs everywhere, more than ever before. Search for your favourite performer on Google, Facebook or caTch-up and it’s highly likely they’re doing one soon, or have done one recently.

If you’re a Morning Star reader the likelihood is they’re not a pop star but, like me, part of the subculture, reliant on a loyal following for their living. Watch, listen and, please, donate.

Some will be raising money for worthy causes but some will be asking for personal donations. Don’t relegate those to second place when it comes to deciding where your precious pennies should go. If artists are asking for money, you can bet your bottom dollar they need it.

My online shows continue, raising funds for our local food bank and support groups and my Mayday gig is on facebook.com/attilathestockbroker.

Now, a passionate entreaty. A few days into all this, activist poet Janine Booth started the fundraising Facebook group Coronaverses: Poems from the Pandemic. It exploded and the best of those contributions now have become a book of the same name, with all profits going to the We Shall Overcome initiative.

Available from https://www.janinebooth.com/shop, it is absolute dynamite — full of humanity, love, anger, passion and, of course, politics. As with everything else in our recent history, the politics of this pandemic have become those of Tory media manipulation and lies.

Janine Booth’s Wherefore Art Thou Capitalism? and Steve White’s Nudge and The List nail it, while Merry Cross’s This Vast Entitled Bag Of Air takes the piss out of it. Hilary Walker’s moving, beautiful Human Touch mourns the cruel fact that we are denied that solace now.

Nick Toczek sees silver linings in Be Positive, Be Keener and Patrick Kealy puts into words the awesome reality of how the everyday is, in an instant, something different.

Sez Tomasin, Bridie Breen and Emma Dalmayne confront those in denial, along with the selfish and inconsiderate, and have words of support for the victims of domestic violence nailed down with their abusers.

Every poem is a victory in an uplifting book, where poetry meets life — which it doesn't do nearly enough.