Just got a letter from Andrew Duncan with a piece on _Foil_ attached: in
there he says that "_However Introduced to the Soles_, by Nic Laight, Nick
Macias, and Niall Quinn was undoubtedly the most dazzling debut of the
decade." Anyone know anything about this book (& agree or disagree with
Duncan's comment)?
I see there's no bites on my suggestion of mooting either some undeservedly
passed-over books or some recent publications (e.g. those of Salt). I
thought part of the point of this list was to discuss British poetry? Happy
to see my goads ignored in favour of others, but surely some poetical
discussion would be welcome? -- Anyway, I'll toss in an extract from one of
the books I had in mind, a little 1991 Poetical Histories chapbook from Ian
Davidson called _Human to Begin With_, a book that reads like a
yet-further-stripped-down version of Jim Kelman. The compound adjective
"bleak-funny" seems the best encapsulation. -- all best --N
from Ian Davidson, _Human to Begin With_:
he takes his cue to his day job leant over
a scuffed brogue of a boy on the run and
out of luck the tip replaced he folds the
papers in his pocket zips up braves the
daylight eyes on autofocus and mouth
disengaged walks on legs like bamboo stilts
his words arranged like lines without end
a small child's whine on a weekend treat
he turns into a tea room at the sight
of the rot inside his mouth
they up end on his head the tea urn
scream demon he dashes outside the brown
liquid gumming his eyes thank christ he
thought to himself his memory recycling
the plots of old westerns where the stinging
grinds of ground coffee brought tears to many
a tough outlaw in a campfire fight he clicks
his heels adopts a swagger cue case
slapping his legs the papers
tight in his hip pocket
Nate & Jane Dorward
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THE GIG magazine: http://www.geocities.com/ndorward/
109 Hounslow Ave., Willowdale, ON, M2N 2B1, Canada
ph: (416) 221 6865
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