Poetry - #KillAllPoets

The BlurbMeister himself, Kneel Downe, releases the third in his set of four Virulent ChapBooks and it shows his softer, more poetic, romantic side... or does it?...

"Kill the Poet
Burn the Church.
Smash the fence on which they perch.
Praise the Sky
And kiss the Moon.
Spill the Blood.
Raise the tune..."

Think of Kneel’s poetry as you think of Kneel himself – an angry punk in a Victorian world of safe and sentimental verse. His poems are noisy and incongruous, loitering on the corners, throwing imagery around and playing with emotions in a very “this is who we are, how we are, take it or leave it” attitude. That’s where the #KillAllPoets hashtag originally came from, as Kneel rebelled against the angst-ridden, self-obsessive, overly-precious poets on Twitter by twisting and throwing their own words back at them.

#KillAllPoets is now a ChapBook compilation of 27 of his own poems, and a myriad of additional verses, collected together in one place from being scattered throughout his previously published books. There are nods to characters that fans of his VirulentBlurb universe will recognise, homages to others of this world and beyond. Strong words and stark imagery take the place of over-wrought saccharine sentimentality but that doesn't mean there's a lack of emotional connection. Roller-coastering from joyous highs to violent darkness to fatalistic futility, even on the same page, Kneel never lets his readers off easily - there are no half measures.

As one of Kneel's own verses says:

The most interesting part
Of a bomb
Is
The fuse.

Once you understand this.
All mayhem
Is
Yours.

Welcome, then, to mayhem. Light the fuse and #KillAllPoets.

Image - VirulentBlurb