a personal history, Billy Childish

[tuesdaylectures.livejournal.com]

i hunt death
like a black spyder
like it is a black spyder i mean
a black spyder that i hope
and pray i will not find

what im trying to say is
that i hunt truth
like it is a black spyder
seen
scurrying between a stack
of old bricks
in my fathers back yard

Comments

[tuesdaylectures.livejournal.com]

I'm posting what I can find of this guy's work around a few communities, I'm interested to see what people think. Sorry if you're flooded and hating them! I'm finding it difficult to track down much of him online, anybody have any of his books? I'm particularly looking for anything from 'Poems to Break the Harts of Impossible Princesses'.

[everetteseven.livejournal.com]

Love this. It's excellent.

[tuesdaylectures.livejournal.com]

I'm glad! Me too. I like the idea of truth being a kind of equivalent to death, and I like how it seems so simple but hinges subtly on that really oddly insightful notion. There are a few more of his poems linked at the bottom of the page here (http://www.thestoolpigeon.co.uk/issue/17/billy-childish-poem-17/), if you're interested :)

[pythia.livejournal.com]

I liked it, but the spelling of 'spider' with a 'y' really detracted for me. Unless he was talking about hunting Lamborghinis in his back hard, which I don't think is the case. :P

[tuesdaylectures.livejournal.com]

Haha! No, it's all a part of his style really, he's dyslexic and writes and publishes without any changes being made to his spelling. Normally something like that would probably bug me (which is very unfair, but I'm a bit ocd about spelling and punctuation and get a bit frustrated with incessant mistakes) but with him, I don't know, I've been reading a few interviews with him and he talks over and over about being truthful and wanting to put out an honest and unedited version of himself, and I can appreciate that.

[pythia.livejournal.com]

See, if there's a reason for it, it doesn't bother me so much. Haha.