Five-Star Fag Burn
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REVIEW: a cigarette burn in the sun by u.v. ray
I like the cut of u.v. ray’s jib
I like short books, novellas, novelettes
I like The Legend of the Holy Drinker
I like The Old Man and the Sea
Writers who write what they know
Like Joyce’s Dubliners
Welsh’s schemies
Bukowski’s Tales of Ordinary Madness
Because it’s definitely everywhere
Especially these days, like
a cigarette burn in the sun
by u.v. ray
Set in Birmingham, 1986
Amidst alkies, junkies
Those on the outside of the outside
The last thin rim
Where you’d need wings to balance
Like Angel T. Cooley
Hero without a halo
But a Pentax and a plan
That’s not the same as a plot
If Joyce made Waugh spit fire
ray might bring the brimstone
Don’t look for an arc
A turn or a twist
There’s no nods to the gods
Or head girls and editors
In London or the Guardian
Instead there’s a black moment
On every page
A horror upon horror
To publish and be damned
Well done u.v. ray
You’re the Brummie Bukowski
A star in the making
But already burnt out
Does that make a black hole?
Or just something like
a cigarette burn in the sun
*
If you'd like to be the proud owner of the signed review copy above, it's up
for grabs to the first to DM me and ask for it, I'll even throw in one of my
limited-edition bookmarks.
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