In 2019 John D Robinson of Holy & Intoxicated Publications has released 19 chapbooks by some of the best small alternative press writers in the English speaking world. Here are his last 4 of the year:
Tom Bakelas- No Place To Be
These are poems about mental illness and underclass life from a bloke who has worked in the industry for decades. Bakelas blurs the line between the patient and administrator, moving seamlessly between first and third person. Cover art by John D. Robinson.
Tin Foil
most people i've met
don't wear tin foil hats
when completely psychotic
that is a fantasy of some
shit sucking hollywood exec
in hospitals, in streets,
in homes, in jails…
i've never met one
who wore a tin foil hat
a few years back
i smoked some hashish with
thirteen books of matches —
i didn't have a lighter—
i went to the pantry
found the foil
constructed an army grade helmet
affixed it to my skull
and felt truly powerful and free
no gamma rays, delta rays,
x-rays, and/or radio waves
were going to get me
as i stood admiring my tin foil hat
in the reflection of the bathroom mirror
i heard a knock on the front door
i ran into the pantry
shut off the light
and simply waited for it to pass.
porch swing
it was 2:30pm when I got there
she sat on her mother’s porch
smoking a cigarette
she had been awake since 9am
and started drinking vodka around 11am
she told me she needed help
finding a screw or a nail
to hang something on the wall
the smell of vodka on her breath
turned me on
something about vodka and beer
on a woman’s breath
does that
she wasn’t wearing any makeup
i said she looked pretty
she told me she cried it all off
the night before
when we couldn’t find a nail
i sat with her
rocking back-and-forth
in a swing that
hung from the porch ceiling
when she stopped smoking
she wrapped her arms around me
there was no more talking
the creaking chair spoke loud enough
this continued on for some time
after i left
she found a nail
and hung her painting on the wall
on the drive home
i thought
sometimes we need that
sometimes we need to simply be
we need quiet afternoons
with someone
even if no words are shared
sometimes it’s what
keeps us
from suicide
or worse
sometimes it’s what
leads us
there.
(all poems in this article are posted with the permission of the publisher)
What people have said about Tom Bakelas's No Place To Be:
Treading within the shadows of suburban tarmac, into a vanishing point that disappears upon each realisation that, there is No Place To Be. Tohm Bakelas finds a strange and confusing state between hope and isolation, where optimism decays in the perception of itself as a driving force to survive. A perception that is ever-present in our dead-end society.
Lucy Wilkinson: editor/publisher of Death of Workers Whilst Building Skyscrapers Press
Bakelas finds the poems hiding in the quotidian, either skinning them alive to get to their core – or by picking them up and cradling them with a distinct tenderness. Although he maintains a strong voice when he hands these poems over to us, Bakelas does so in a way that takes a step back – allowing us to truly examine something and in turn even ourselves. No Place To Be acts as a taster menu for anyone not yet familiar with Bakelas work, or a much needed fix for anyone that’s been left craving for more.
Gwil James Thomas: poet, writer and inept musician.
It takes a special set of qualities to understand & champion the needs of those struggling with mental illness. Poets often possess these by nature. This poet has them in spades. Tohm Bakelas lives inside the heads of some of our most troubled brothers & sisters. People simply trying to get along in an over-complicated world. & From his own head come observations & imaginations. Some sweet. Some tragic. Always with empathy. Ever with dignity. If poetry is about opening doors onto the deep reality of who we are as a society & how some of us can be cast without care into turmoil, through no fault of our own, then Tohm Bakelas has nailed it in this collection. –
Pete Donohue: poet
Gwil James Thomas- In The Barrel Of A Beautiful Wave
Gwil James Thomas includes 14 poems in this collection. The poems are reflective and sometimes have a symbolic or extended metaphoric edge to them. Cover art by John D. Robinson.
The Stag Beetle Song.
I noticed him at the bus stop by the park,
this gentle giant crawling over the road
courageously making his way across
the unforgiving asphalt –
holding his jaws to the sky
with a slow and sure determination
not once stopping as the vehicle wheels
sped past like randomly fired bullets
missing him by centimetres each time -
yet miraculously
the stag beetle made it
to the other side of the road unscathed,
as he paused on the adjacent pavement
and hobbled off out of sight.
What had made him risk life and limb?
Surely, he had all a stag beetle wanted
back in that park? I pondered –
until I remembered a time that I crawled
across hell and back for someone
giving everything I had
and hoping that was enough
like a dumb and desperate
stag beetle in love.
Stock Car Racers.
An early memory –
under a blood red sky
on a rare late
Saturday afternoon
where my dad was present,
we sat in a
dilapidated racecourse.
Stock car racers
tore
around the track –
twisted
metal
and
skid
marks
everywhere.
The weekend warrior
stock car racers
kept their hands gripped
finding some glorious
and gregarious escape
from whatever it was
they did between
Monday and the track –
as it was for us
sat on the grass sprouted
coliseum like steps –
a strange
sort of
beauty.
Bio: Gwil James Thomas is a poet, novelist and inept musician originally from Bristol, England. His written work can be found widely in print and also online. He is the author of the poetry chapbooks: Gwil Vs Machine (Paper & Ink), Hidden Icons & Secret Menus (Analog Submission Press), Romance, Renegades & Riots - W/John D Robinson (Analog Submission Press) and Writing Beer, Drinking Poetry (Concrete Meat Press). Other work can be found widely in print and also online. He was also once a member of the Spanish/British band Irreparables (Nominal Records). He currently lives in San Sebastián, Northern Spain.
Martin Appleby, Editor of Paper & Ink Literary Zine
Catfish McDaris- Magic Coyote Rain Dance
Front and back covers by the legendary Marcel Herms (clink on to enlarge).
It’s difficult to describe Catfish’s original absurd mayhem on the page. His opening poem "Go Pound Sand" and its intricate word play, free-flowing associations and allusions will give you a blink of an idea of what he does (click on the poem to enlarge):
The best in this chap is his epic poem “The Day van Gogh Died” (from Chiron Review, Issue #74, Spring 2004) and the late great Todd Moore’s review of it (The Hold, June 2004 and The Outlaw Poetry Network). Also of significant cultural note is Catfish's illustrated short story “Tiger Skin undies” (click on image to enlarge).
Kevin Tosca- Paris by Night
Tosca includes ten short stories in this chap, including seven which were previously published in The Frogmore Papers, The Interpreter’s House, The Broken Plate, Mojave River Review and Otoliths. Despite the romantic associations of the title these are dark, satirical takes on France as a tourist destination especially after the 2015 terrorist attacks on the offices of Charlie Hebdo and on the Bataadan Theatre in Paris. Similar to Ted Hughes’s poem “My Paris”, Tosca grimly exposes the underbelly of the city beneath its tourist façade.
The striking opening short story with the ironic title "Progress" peels away the surface to reveal the political undertones of world realities. Click on to enlarge:
The striking opening short story with the ironic title "Progress" peels away the surface to reveal the political undertones of world realities. Click on to enlarge:
Best of the short stories include “War Drums” and the titular “Paris by Night” in which Tosca satirises the best selling but insipid travelogues of France aimed at well-healed American tourists.
Tosca’s collection of short stories is certainly amongst the best of the work published by Holy & Intoxicated Publications since its inception.
Interview with John D. Robinson- PunkAndPoetryPodcast- Episode 2
Zine editor and poet Martin Appleby (of Paper and Ink), interviews poet, writer and publisher John Robinson (of Holy&Intoxicated Publications). Robinson talks about alcohol & writing, his writing process, his Holy & Intoxicated Publications and what to expect from him in 2020. Find the postcast here (11:04-26:43m): https://soundcloud.com/punkandpoetrypodcast/punk-and-poetry-podcast-002
See also recent updated interview of John D Robinson by Catfish McDaris: http://ppigpenn.blogspot.com
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