“Brian Bilston is a laureate for our fractured times” - Ian Mcmillan
“If you like a) laughing b) words which rhyme with each other, you will love Brian Bilston” - Richard Osman
“Brian Bilston is a poet who knows it. He writes about the human condition, relationships, and buses.”
Brian Bilston is a darling of social media, a “twitter laureate”. His Facebook ‘about’ reads ‘Brian Bilston is a poet who knows it. He writes about the human condition, relationships, and buses.’ Bilston is a poet who plucks idioms from the world we live in, a modern day squirrel he hoards reality in colourful scraps and smirks while letting slip profound observations. Experimenting with form, without simplifying or abstracting the essence of his vison, he recasts poetry with humour, casting light on the absurdity of the world we live in. He posted today’s poem on his social media page. It reads like a series of diary entries, condensing the months of the year into tiny missives. His caption says “Here’s a poem documenting my year to date, in haiku form.” I think we all need this poem, I need it for sure. I need to hear a rapporteur of reality stenograph the roller coaster of emotions that this time has unravelled. I need to hear it out loud, and who better than this master of lightness, this ephemeral laughing Buddha of verse.