#brianbilston

[finzpiration]

"Verb Your Enthusiasm"

by Brian Bilston

[unfoldingmoments]

I Did Not Tell Death Where I Lived

I did not tell Death where I lived, But he has found me all the same. I hear him knocking on my door And calling out my name. My Snapchat settings kept Him out. On Twitter I did block Him. His Facebook friend requests were spurned. Yet still he keeps on knocking. Court injunctions were sought and filed But still I sit in fear. Oh, my mistake. It is not Death. I think my pizza’s here.

- Brian Bilston. “Diary of a Somebody.”

[unfoldingmoments]

3rd January

The final daily Peanuts comic strip appeared on this day in 2000, although the Sunday strips continued to run until 13th February, the day after the death of its creator, Charles M. Schulz. It had been a standard feature of American newspapers for nearly fifty years, serving up a daily treat of heartbreak and laughter, philosophy and psychology, in four simple tragi-comic panels. Charlie Brown was a character I could relate to – shy, under-confident, generally incapable – but, as a child, it was Snoopy I adored the most. Even now I harbour hopes that all those books he’d write while sitting on top of his kennel, tapping away furiously on his typewriter, will eventually find the light of day. The Greatest President America Never Had

That Snoopy never became President is now generally agreed upon to be one of the great lost opportunities of twentieth-century politics.

He would have got my vote, had I been an American citizen and had an anthropomorphised cartoon beagle been allowed to run for office.

Yes, I know there were times when he could be selfish or difficult – and it’s hard not to feel sorry for Charlie Brown, poor kid –

but look beyond that, and you’ll find loyalty, empathy, kindness, dogged common sense. And lots and lots of dancing.

He’d have pulled out of Vietnam earlier. Carried the flag for civil rights. Repealed the second amendment. Sat down with Khrushchev.

Grand claims to make, perhaps, of an anthropomorphised cartoon beagle; but nothing is impossible and Snoopy was a guy who achieved nothing every day.

Excerpt From: Brian Bilston. “Days Like These.”

[ricaninboston]

On the importance of not forgetting by #brianbilston #brianbilstonpoetry #remembrance (at Boston, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZPTJyDu5z7/?utm_medium=tumblr

[randomrantsoccasionalmusings]

Trying to clear the backlog of books, I was getting through ‘You Took the Last Bus Home’ by @brian_bilston and found this. Given the Brexit vote today and the way refugees are being treated around the world it really hit home. Thank you sir for the excellent writing #poems #poetry #brianbilston #youtookthelastbushome #refugeeswelcome #brexit https://www.instagram.com/p/BsrBrB0AokV/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1uw554tu57pnn

[michellemazuros]

"America is a Gun" by @brian_bilston England is a cup of tea.  France, a wheel of ripened brie. Greece, a short, squat olive tree. America is a gun. Brazil is football on the sand. Argentina, Maradona's hand. Germany, an oompah band. America is a gun. Holland is a wooden shoe. Hungary, a goulash stew. Australia, a kangaroo. America is a gun. Japan is a thermal spring. Scotland is a highland fling. Oh, better to be anything than America as a gun. Graphic by @reverbpress #ReverbPress #BrianBilston #GunControlNow #Parkland #GunReformNow #GunSenseNow (at Saint Petersburg, Florida)