Unwanted Item - Brian Bilston
2020
polythene bag floating through space reminding us of its immortality. unfilled earthen pot desiring moistness. 8 tentacled animal broodingly scourging the ocean bed for detritus. the year of waiting, of finding that sensation is more than skin and smile. that loneliness is feeling the presence of yourself as another person, a kind of objectivity perhaps. the year of virality, in all its devastating splendour. Sometimes when I am confronted with the complexity of many moving parts fused together in a chaos that feels like it is designed to confound, I turn to the basics - the simple things. the everydayness of transaction. light falling on chair. wing flapping in breeze. leaf unfurling. cat purring. but also, the intuitive pleasure of complaint, of being able to articulate what’s bothering you. the joy of feeling understood, and heard. seeing the trivial in the profound. and the materiality of things too large to be caged in language.
Sometimes when I am confronted by a world that I cannot make sense of, I turn to Brian Bilston*. I turn to him not because he offers absolution or answers, but because he is brilliant at not making sense of a thing, and hilarious, while he’s at it. *Bilston is one of the most beautiful finds of this year, a gift from a friend of poetry. You could also read his The Last Bee and his Year to date (subsequently completed in December to cover the entire year, the full poem can be found on his social media - Make sure you follow him!).
