Commentary

The collection is called Ex\orcism cos, huh, it's
mostly about boys, men and relationships. Now I'm older I don't really
write poetry any more. Sometimes I get a good feeling for one but then
it slips away. These poems span from 1997 to 2004.

Elastic Limit
Written about the guy all your friends warn you away from. He was only
ever a danger to himself though, really.

I like boys
Well, I do.

Seasonal Poem
I wrote this as part of my A-level English Language coursework in 1998.
People seem to like it, though I feel it's a little clumsy and
formulaic. I keep meaning to go back and sort out the ending, but I
still haven't got a handle on how to.

Paper Cut
This is an unashamed riff on that Plath poem where she slices her thumb
open. Except it accidentally turned into a metaphor. Clever, d'you see?
Clever.

Untitled
About the sudden realisation you've moved from one stage of a
relationship into another, and you can't go back to holding hands now.

Trans - Pennine
This is one of the earliest poems in the collection. I lived in
Yorkshire, he lived in Lancashire, we had to call the whole thing off.

Alone in the Woods
Deals with the weariness of playing games in love. I always expected
everything to work out fine, and needless to say, things rarely did.

Collector
I was seeing a guy who was seeing a few girls, and his latest was
similar in height and colouring to me. Normally he went out with tall
dark women, and I felt a little affronted.

Branded
I was seeing a guy who had a girlfriend who liked to scratch his back
up, as though she was marking her territory. Obviously, that didn't
work.

Death
About the same guy. He was very ill with Crohn's Disease when I met
him, and had just been operated on. Although he was quite healthy by
the time it had all ended, the illness could come back at any point.

Cardiac Arrest
I saw a policeman, briefly, when I was 17. I wrote this as a joke, for
him.

Fox
About the dangerous / not so dangerous boy again. He became nothing to
me towards the end.

Let Me Be Your Drugs
Written for a boy who was quite clearly off the rails, when I still
believed I could 'save' him.

Journey
This is actually the most recent love poem in the collection, written
for a beautiful Scot who didn't dare take the plunge.

Morning
I get the feeling I might have written this as an exercise at
university. Certainly it details a typical university morning.

Like a Ghost
Upon reading this back, several people have commented it sounded as
though I wanted to kill the girl in question. I'm not sure if that's
how it reads to strangers or if that is because they knew my mindset at
the time. I wanted to explore how your lovers partner 'haunts' you,
making you feel guilty and untrusting. I kept imagining I saw her
everywhere, even though she lived 100 miles away.

Football boys
This was actually my first one night stand. And very enjoyable too.

Polar Bear
Imagine my dismay when someone told me it's a myth that polar bears
aren't white, and of course they are. They're white in the zoo, etc.
Still I think this poem works.

Supermarket Fruit
I can't shake the feeling I have lifted this line for line from
somewhere else, possibly a song. I found I'd written it on the back of
my chequebook after a particularly heavy night at university.

Your Girlfriend
I never could understand why they didn't want to go out with me
instead.

Sunday Morning, 4am
This is the most recent poem in this collection. I was walking back
from a night out and the milkman thought I'd been up to no good. It
reminded me of a time when I'd be sneaking back to my boyfriend from
someone elses just before dawn. Those times have gone now.