I have bit of a “first” for you today. I’m an ex-literature student so poetry doesn’t really frighten me – I do sometimes dip into contemporary poetry, have tried to write it myself on a number of occasions. Hey, I’m even part of a poetry appreciation group with my local U3A. But I’ve never been brave enough to review it – or to feature any on Being Anne. So when author and poet Dane Cobain contacted me, suggesting we could maybe produce a feature together, I thought it might just be the perfect opportunity to try something a little different. It’s ok, don’t worry – I’m not going to share any of my own rather feeble attempts with you. But Dane agreed to write a poem exclusively for Being Anne if I gave him five words to work from. I came up with age, memory, beauty, butterfly, and home: this what Dane wrote…
Lepidoptery
I like to laugh
when bad things happen.I’ll sit at home alone
and turn the heat up on the stove
until the food explodes,
tempting fate by pulling my weight
trying to cube the root
of a baker’s dozen.There’s a storm coming,
you can smell it in the air;
I’m ready to fly kites outside
until the lightning strikes
or to rise up high
like a butterfly,
so I can see this life
through lepidopterist eyes.There’s a storm coming
and you can still smell it;
it’s like the heat from Hell’s Kitchen
in shimmering fiction,
all beauty in the eyes
of the pressure outside,
the lies you despised
when you were seventeen.Your own old age
is a distant memory;
time flows in strange directions
and sometimes you
can grab ahold of it.Don’t let time
just pass you by;
fake a smile
and laugh your laugh
until the cows come home.
Thank you, Dane! Let me tell you more about his work.
Eyes Like Lighthouses: When the Boats Come Home is Dane Cobain’s first book of poetry, distilled from the sweat of a thousand memorised performances in this reality and others. It’s not for the faint-hearted.
“I’ve never seen anyone do a stream of consciousness piece as talented as that. Very impressed.” – Mark Allard-Will, author of Saskatch-A-Man and co-founder of Cuckoo’s Nest Press
“Dane’s poetry is a multi-layered spiral of the macabre, quirky humour and disjointed imagery. Not only does he make you think, he captures the small forgotten moments of everyday life.” – Nikki Dudley, co-editor of Streetcake Magazine
No Rest For The Wicked is a supernatural thriller.
Father Montgomery, an elderly priest with a secret past, begins to investigate after his parishioners come under attack, and with the help of Jones, a young businessman with an estranged child, Montgomery begins to track down the origin of the Angels.
When Jones himself is attacked, Father Montgomery knows he has to act fast. He speaks to the Angels and organises a final showdown where he’s asked to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Former.ly: The Rise and Fall of a Social Network is literary fiction.
When Dan Roberts starts his new job at Former.ly, he has no idea what he’s getting into. The site deals in death – its users share their innermost thoughts, which are stored privately until they die. Then, their posts are shared with the world, often with unexpected consequences.
But something strange is going on, and the site’s two erratic founders share a dark secret. A secret that people are willing to kill for.
Meet Dane Cobain
Dane Cobain lives in High Wycombe, and is an independent poet, musician and storyteller with a passion for language and learning. When he’s not in front of a screen writing stories and poetry, he can be found working on his book review blog or developing his website. He can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.