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Monday, September 16, 2019

New Release: John D. Robinson A Hash Smoking, Codeine Swallowing, Wine Drinking, Son of a Bitch (Alien Buddha Press, 2019) 105 pages


This is prolific UK writer John D. Robinson’s latest book, his second through Alien Buddha Press. There are 28 narrative poems in the collection. The poems cascade down the page in one stanza- usually in one sentence, with a sprinkling of semi-colons along the way. 

The poems are typically about and from the perspective of marginalised people who are living on the edge of a cliff- drug addicts, sex-slaves, the homeless, the mentally deranged, religious converts and the like. Robinson writes about their lives and his own in a wry, humorous and highly entertaining way. The language is always clear and authentic.

Some of the best poems include "There's Always More" a portrait poem about Julian in which Robinson telescopes his remarkable life in a couple of sentences, "A Curious Nasal Profile" about the two different stories the poet tells sometimes to random strangers who ask him about how he got "that nose", "Ned And The Kitty Cat Scratch" about Robinson's relationship with Ned who he met at a compulsory governmental work placement and "Hide And Seek" which previously appeared in Robinson's first published book When You Hear the Bell There's Nowhere to Hide (Holy & Intoxicated Publications, 2016). 

If you are unfamiliar with Robinson's work the poem should make your head spin:


Hide And Seek

Plain but pretty and several
years younger than I, it was
never going to be anything
more than a fleeting
experience; we had met,
drunk, in a seedy night-
club, danced and drank
and embraced and kissed
and returned to her studio
flat and talked all
through the night and
met again the following
evening, took a few
drinks and again returned
to her studio flat, only this
time there wasn't a great
deal of talking;
we quickly began to
undress one another and
as I slipped off her bra
my eyes were transfixed
upon her nipples;
"Anything wrong?" she
asked playfully, smiling.
"Oh no, beautifully" I 
replied having never seen
inverted nipples before,
and I moved in to kiss
and caress her breasts;
I was no Valentino or
casanova but nipples had
never been a problem so
far and I licked and sucked
and loved with a great deal
of effort and passion
but the nipples
remained hidden and I
felt at a loss;
"It's only when I come
that makes my nipples pop out"
she told me, laughing, as she gently
pushed my face away from
her breasts;
"Oh" I said not knowing
what else to say.
"You better try elsewhere"
she said;
I did as she suggested
and a few minutes later
these beautiful little
nipples suddenly popped
free as she gave a final
cry of pleasure and then all
too quickly the nipples
disappeared, shrunk back
down into their fleshy
burrows;
'now you see me
now you don't,'
and I wanted to see the
nipples again but she
wanted to drink wine and
smoke some grass and
listen to some music
and that's what happened
and perhaps just a few days
later she left me
stranded in a 3am dark and
strange countryside following
some outrageous and erratic
and wild drunken behaviour
within the vehicle that was
moving at speed through
dark dangerous narrow lanes;
she stopped
the car and ordered me out;
I did so and she sped off
and I was expecting her to
turn around after a few
minutes but she didn't,
I saw the red tail-lights
fade into blackness and
vanish and I never saw
her again;
'now you see me
now you don't.'

(posted with the poet's permission)

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