New Release: John D. Robinson SONGS OF BASTET (Scumbag Press, 2021)

 

English poet John D. Robinson has a new chapbook coming out on Friday 26 November 2021 through Scumbag Press. He says of the chap, “The poems within are ALL about cats: the cover art and promo art are taken from my paintings.”

 

Here is a poem from the collection: 

 

ON THE DAY THAT OSCAR LEFT ME

I awoke terribly fragile,

shaking and frightened  and

I called in sick,

an ex lover

telephoned and asked

for money

which I didn’t have,

the backyard flooded

and my pot dealer

had gone on

holiday,

the radio broadcast

stories of tragedy

and sadness and

of wars

and payday was

two weeks away;

Oscar had suddenly

shown up a few

months back, wailing

and crying and

hungry and we made

friends and he moved

in and I called him

Oscar and he ate

whatever I could

give him and he

seemed thankful and

then one day he

didn’t come back 

and I

knew that he

wouldn’t return;

Oscar was a beat hobo cat;

I had a real lousy

day the day

that Oscar

left me.

 

(the poem is posted with the permission of the writer)

 Buy the chapbook here upon release: https://www.scumbagpress.co.uk