The Future

Some of these absolutely took my breath away, but some were rambling and forgettable. The former is the majority of the book and I adored them.

I've watched Neil from Youtube so I was happy to see this book on the Read Now's on Netgalley (aka also the worst place to be if you're terrible at restraint like me. It should be renamed to something like People who can't restrain themselves – but that's too long, so we can shorten it to PWCRT – we'll have to work on the pronunciation or even rewrite the renaming).

I read (well in this anthology it mentions) that he wrote some of these while on the road and I can just see that – waiting at a petrol station or in the queue at a coffee shop and just furiously scribbling on a notepad or the back of a receipt. And I love it because it's so raw – which is something that's a theme with him – rawness in his writing. He writes poems that are to the point, ones that are real.

What I love about poetry (and slam poetry in particular) is that different people can find different meanings in the poems. I think it's so important for writers to talk about mental illness and to not treat it like something that should be stashed away in the corner. It shows that it can and should be commonplace, it should be showcased, it should be discussed.

Favourite quotes:

The Ballad of Fuckknuckle Jones:
He's the kind of guy who, when he says you'll be fine, is probably right. The end isn't coming soon, just what's next.

All Ages:
What's more punk rock than living despite all that which has tried to make you not?

Psalam 12, In Which the Author Alienates His Audience, Part 2:
Your cat is the best thing that happens in your day; your cat is the best thing that happens in your cat's day.

Going to Wales:
...right now I'm inventing castles and in one of them is a dragon.

The Future:
I know tomorrow is going to come because I've seen it. Sunrise is going to come,
all you have to do is wake up.
I saw the future, I did, and in it I was alive