glove bark

A regime devoted to time
embodied in the colour of a wall or running
repeatedly into yourself
spattering thighs; knee-deep in lard
breath-by-breath attack
starving for a digital release I
am accurate – moot musculature –
diligently flowing
outward away from posterity whipped
into relief the texture of
beaten leather;
suction cups, monster artists stuck to myriad
bathroom floors as a naïve
defence against anxiety –
Billie Holliday vox
tremors soaked in deep red quiet amid
the itchy knife
of emotional compromise –
inventories of abstracted
feeling burned into grids as markers of
claustrophobic unlovability, which
worn as a crown demands
the question
why am I here –
what did my tidy heart want
to witness?

hunch & shuffle

The modesty of caramel – burned, earthy
& smashed against my wanton mouth in stickled
smudges – make a meal of my gushing brains, take
my faith as fallen & my delicate curls
unshaven. Pimp your pickles with my bluish
pelvis. I crook myself upon you, dribbling
with an anorexic urgency, and I don’t see
your workload lightening beneath the crusted
halo of your charm, cowboy, so knuckle down.

flesh leggings

A persuasive blackness of spirit touches
you, & I do not have the answer you
Feel you deserve. Your olive-oil stomach
Is calling out for the thrill of lips, &
Your hurt curls are enshrined in cotton.
Small and puffy by the door, a backless
Vibration falls amongst us, a low-flowered
Anger. You hold out your palms of feel the
Chesty pulses, and soon it creeps in you,
Harping over and over the hands and
Cities. The loving diagnosis of
Your hip shot from grace – a stapler greeted
By skin, broke, fell to earth like a gazelle.

Upcoming Readings

DESPERATE FOR LOVE]
22nd September 2009
Komedia Studio Bar, Gardner Street, Brighton
8-11pm / £3.50

Keston Sutherland is a Brighton based poet. He teaches at the university and through his editing of the poetics journal Quid, co-editing (with Andrea Brady) of Barque Press, and most notably through his own poetry, has already made a huge and pemanent contribution to poetry culture in Britain. His most recent collections are: Hot White Andy, Neocosis and Neutrality. He's read all over the world and his poems have been translated into several languages. Keston's a brilliantly engaging reader. His poems are spiked and sticky, spattered with jump edits and blurt jargon, precise in their articulations of the millivolt twitching of difficulty, and funnier than you think or deserve.

Sophie Robinson is a London poet who's work has appeared in various online magazines including Pilot, How2 and Dusie as well as Jeff Hilson's Reality Street Book Of Sonnets and Voice Recognition: 21 Poets for the 21st Century (Bloodaxe) Her most recent collection, 'a' (Les Figues Press) is a magnetically fascinating tender and beautiful book about loss. Everyone we've shown it to has been transfixed by it. I hope she brings some so you can all buy one.

Neil Palmer is Brighton's foremost and only Hauntiquarian. A mage of divergence, his stuff is: punk rock, words, tailoring, speculative enquiry. All conducted at the sub-rumour valency. Provisional cassettes, secret discographies, unmaintained websites, and a recent chapbook Hillwaking all testify to his fierce, baffling, kind, impatient intelligence.

PLUS: Desperate For Love regulars reading, Alan introducing people and rambling slightly, Steph from Born Bad playing beautiful and apposite records, and a free chapbook for the first 50 of you through the door. Fraser behind the bar, Lisa on the door, it's a family affair. If you come, you're family. You are so coming.


14 HOUR : VOICE RECOGNITION SPECIAL
24th September 2009
Whitechapel Gallery, Whitechapel High Street, London E1
7.30pm / FREE ENTRY


To mark the release of Bloodaxe's anthology Voice Recognition: 21 Poets for the 21st Century, 14 Hour presents 5 of its poets.

AMY BLAKEMORE + HEATHER PHILLIPSON + ADAM O'RIORDAN + SOPHIE ROBINSON + AHREN WARNER

"Who are the best young poets today? Which new poets are most likely to become the defining voices of their generation? Two young editors, JAMES BYRNE and CLARE POLLARD, set out to answer these questions in Voice Recognition, a vibrant anthology introducing 21 of the most exciting young poets of the 21st century.

"Voice Recognition showcases the work of a talented new wave of poets from Britain and Ireland who are just now starting to make their mark. None has yet published a first book of poems. All are likely to produce distinctively different debut collections in the next few years.

"Influenced by poetries from across the world, and unafraid to take risks, all these poets are committed to extending and remaking the traditions of poetry in a fast-changing new millennium. Their poems show a lively range of styles and subjects - sometimes sexy, sometimes dark, but consistently brimming with vitality. The future of poetry begins here.

"Voice Recognition includes: Jay Bernard, Emily Berry, Amy Blakemore, Siddhartha Bose, Ailbhe Darcy, Joe Dunthorne, Miriam Gamble, Sarah Jackson, Annie Katchinska, Mark Leech, Toby Martinez de las Rivas, Jonathan Morley, Adam O'Riordan, Colm O'Shea, Sandeep Parmar, Heather Phillipson, Kate Potts, Sophie Robinson, Jack Underwood Ahren Warner, and James Womack." - official blurb.

● AMY BLAKEMORE was a Foyle Young Poet of the Year in both 2007 and 2008, and has since been highlighted by the Times as one of the top ten rising stars of British poetry. Her work has been featured in various places, including Iota, Brittle Star, Rising and Pomegranate.

● HEATHER PHILLIPSON has received commissions and awards for her writing, including the Michael Donaghy Poetry Prize in 2007, an Eric Gregory Award in 2008, and a Faber New Poets Award in 2009. Her pamphlet will be published by Faber and Faber in October 2009. She is also an artist and exhibits nationally and internationally, with recent shows in London, Paris and New York. She has a PhD in Fine Art practice and received the Sir Leslie Joseph Young Artist Award 2009.

● ADAM O'RIORDAN was born in Manchester and educated at the universities of Oxford and London. From 2008 to 2009 he was Poet-in-Residence at The Wordsworth Trust, the Centre for British Romanticism. His first collection will be published by Chatto and Windus in 2010.

● SOPHIE ROBINSON was born in 1985, and lives and works in London. She has an MA in Poetic Practice from Royal Holloway, and is currently working on a practice-based PhD at Royal Holloway. Her first chapbook, Killin'Kittenish!, was published by yt communications in 2006. Since 2005 she has performed at numerous events in the UK and the US. Her critical and creative work has been featured in Dusie, How2 and Pilot.

● AHREN WARNER has published his poems in magazines including Poetry Review, Magma and The Wolf. He has work forthcoming in several anthologies, including Voice Recognition: 21 Poets for the 21st Century (Bloodaxe) and Identity Parade: An Anthology of New British and Irish Poets (Bloodaxe). He also has a pamphlet forthcoming from Donut Press. He maintains a keen interest in post-Heideggarian ontology and aesthetics, and kittens.


OPENNED: LAJEE FUNDRAISER
6th October 2009
The Foundry, Great Eastern Street, London EC2A
7.30pm / FREE ENTRY

The next Openned night, the Land for Lajee Fundraiser, takes place on Tuesday 6th October.

Confirmed readers so far are: Sean Bonney, Sophie Robinson, Harry Gilonis, Josh Stanley, Tim Atkins, Nat Raha, Posie Rider, Peter Philpott, Alan Hay, Michael Zand, Amy De’Ath, Elizabeth-Jane Burnett, Frances Kruk, Raz, Andrea Brady, Justin Katko.

Publishers donating to the book table include: Barque Press, Reality Street, Bad Press, West End Lane Books, Critical Documents, Grasp Press, Hot Gun!, Veer.

Come along and buy amazing books to support the Lajee Project. Visit Openned for more details about the night and the project.

Voice Recognition: 21 Poets for the 21st Century

Who are the best young poets today? Which new poets are most likely to become the defining voices of their generation? Two young editors, James Byrne and Clare Pollard, set out to answer these questions in Voice Recognition, a vibrant anthology introducing 21 of the most exciting young poets of the 21st century.

Voice Recognition showcases the work of a talented new wave of poets from Britain and Ireland who are just now starting to make their mark. None has yet published a first book of poems. All are likely to produce distinctively different debut collections in the next few years.

Influenced by poetries from across the world, and unafraid to take risks, all these poets are committed to extending and remaking the traditions of poetry in a fast-changing new millennium. Their poems show a lively range of styles and subjects – sometimes sexy, sometimes dark, but consistently brimming with vitality. The future of poetry begins here.

Jay Bernard • Emily Berry • Amy Blakemore • Siddhartha Bose • Ailbhe Darcy • Joe Dunthorne • Miriam Gamble • Sarah Jackson • Annie Katchinska • Mark Leech • Toby Martinez de las Rivas • Jonathan Morley • Adam O’Riordan • Colm O’Shea • Sandeep Parmar • Heather Phillipson • Kate Potts • Sophie Robinson • Jack Underwood • Ahren Warner • James Womack

Voice Recognition @ Bloodaxe
Buy the book on Amazon.co.uk

hunky dory

Struck acute, I dine alone
& sad; like a burned
out carcass of a car in
a ghetto in Paris I

am too tired to riot.
You cling translucent
To my rustic children, a
Petrol-slick & I long to

Say hello. Tears in my soup,
eyes in my mouth. How
can we have an exchange when
you’re being so quiet. Hello.

preshus

Above all things I must remember to ART to wrap
My children up in blankets like pigs to the slaughter &
To keep my them my sausages in the fridge that’s where I
Like them best.

What is love but last year’s hate. What is hate but last
Year’s death or travelcard or cardigan or anything
Else you have to lose to drop off
The edge. Follow the river
Around drink whiskey
For the corpses.

At the sink I have been silly with myself in the past I
Will admit I have been careless -

Blackouts.

Tease me feed me neatly to your dogs. Do not let them
Gobble. Do not scratch yourself in public YOU
Are as noisy & ineffectual as a travel hairdryer,
ma noisette je te promets, do not sadden swallow
til you vomit or bust wide open but never never not
To ART or drink whiskey or play amongst the
Thighs of your favourite your only horse, stabled,
Skin-drunk and this is the year that matters or
You will rot.

Pulchritudinous

the proud line of your tailoring moves
me. Tuck the sag of years into line; crop
each spasmic landmine to its limit you
were my favourite unplanned closure, you
were my best sign of misdirection beset
with grime you groove foggily to the lapsing
beat-heart of my weakest pet, my sickly
sparrow wormless and breaking in a bath
of porridge – goopy flapping of the end
of days –

¡compadre!
do not leave I have sweeter
meats to feed you yet –

Our lament: left alone, like so much lunch,
overcharred, undersundered – nude hams,
merely basking in the burn of your urbanity.