John Robinson is a local born poet living in Hastings, East Sussex; his work appears widely in the small press and online literary journals; ‘Cowboy Hats & Railways’ is his latest collection to be published by ‘Scars Publications’; it is available as a free PDF download from ‘Scars publications’ or as a perfect bound edition of the book is available via Amazon at £8.88.
His previous publication ‘When You Hear The Bell, There’s Nowhere To Hide‘ (Holy&intoxicated Publications 2016) carries an introduction by Brooklyn based underground legend poet and novelist John Grochalski; the poem ‘On My Father’s Side’ was first published as a Broadside by the iconic 48th Street Press NYC; the illustration above is the work of Hastings based artist Jonathan Adie;
ON MY FATHER’S SIDE
I never met
my grandfather
and really didn’t
get to know my
own father
and my daughter
may feel as I;
she never met
her grandfather
and owing to my
own fears and
inadequacies
may feel that I
have distanced
myself ;
not by absence
but through my
quietness and of
not constantly
repeating
‘I love you’
if something is
said once and it is
said in truth then
it is said forever
but here it is
in writing for you,
my daughter,
Bonita Rose,
I Love You.
COWBOY HATS AND RAILWAYS
Another time, drunk on wine
and beer and high on hash
and both of us wearing
these ridiculous oversized
Stetsons; he dared me to
climb onto the railway
bridge and swing above the
railway tracks and it didn’t
seem to be a bad suggestion
so I did just that and as I
dangled from the iron bridge
above the tracks, I thought
of a time when I was 8 or 9
when he had passed out
drunk and I didn’t know
where we were and I
couldn’t wake him up and I
shouted and kicked and
punched him with tears in
my eyes and he wouldn’t
wake up and I walked
away leaving him laying
in an alcoholic black-out
and somehow, I can’t
remember how, I made it
home and my mother hugged
me like she had never done
before or since
and my father returned
a couple days later;
and I hung from the bridge
above the railway tracks
and he joined me and we
sang a few songs and our
arms tired and we decided
to climb back onto the
bridge
and then we threw our
Stetsons onto the
tracks and went in search
of another bar.
This poem first appeared in the poetry magazine The Peeking Cat.