Hold your nose and try it
 

I have learned more about myself by what I’ve posted here on the Sphere than I can recall having learned anywhere else, including decades of academic education but excluding marriage.

Which brings me to this thread: the twitter poetry of Brian Bilston. I have been following his poetry on twitter for the past few months – I know very little else about him – and think he is a true new genre poet. I would think John Whitworth will not be impressed (sorry John, but I just can’t imagine). But others... I am a dogged social media skeptic but I know what I like (poetry) and it keeps changing.

I'd like to know what poets here on the Sphere think of him. Try him. Go ahead. Hold your nose and try him. You might be pleasantly surprised.

https://twitter.com/brian_bilston

I gave it ten minutes and found him amusing and interesting. I mean, he's not a genius or anything, but I did "follow" him.

I can't see or hear him because there's a box asking me to sign in that obscures the onscreen text. I'll see if I can track him down elsewhere on t'interwebz. Perhaps, though, he is like unto the young man I introduced on the Flyting thread.

https://www.facebook.com/tomfoolery2...7980169950946/

I commented there on the new wave in performance poetry but can't copy it here because it rhymes.

He has a web page, which may be a more convenient way to read him than via Twitter: brianbilston.com

I didn't know about the Twittering, but Brian Bilston had a very entertaining piece, Book Group, in Lighten Up Online 29, March 2015.

Annie, it's only members' own poetry that can't be posted in a GT thread.

I'm looking forward to reading some of Brian Bilston's poems; thanks for the link to his website, Brian W.

Jayne

Roger, that's what I get from him. Cleverness and a nice way with words.

Ann, try the website Brian includes in his post. Hope this link below works for you...

Jerome, I will check that piece out. I much prefer his twitterish approach to poetry over the slams and rap poets I've heard/read. I think he has a bit of cummings in him. But I am guarding against what I suspect might be glibness and flippancy.

What got me interested in him was this piece:

https://brianbilston.files.wordpress...3/img_4817.jpg

It expresses the confluence of Trumpism and Russian hacking of our election process in the 2016 election in a form shape poem. I thought it was clever and still do.

Am I allowed not to do handsprings? He sounds like a really good, and very self-conscious, high school poet. (Added in) And I do like the Trump one you reference above. But too much of the rest is clever, but not all that good.

No handsprings required. Just snap your fingers : )

Not the high school poets I've encountered. They are mostly incomprehensible. Besides, even Shelley was a high school poet once...
But I get a similar feeling about his writing as you do. I wondered how others would react.
At least it's a welcome break from some of the other tweeters. At least it's poetry.

"I hope that our lips
get stucker and stucker"

elicited a genuine smile. I am afraid that is as far as I can go :o

Jennifer