Poetry

In early 2026, I found myself writing poetry for the first time in decades. To my great surprise, I kept writing, and it turned out people liked the results.

I completed my first volume – Dogface Words – by June 2026, and in July, I began publishing video performances of each “track” on social media. I’m currently looking to build my audience with these, and find a willing publisher to put this work onto the printed page where I hope it will find an audience to take it to heart.

I performed my poetry live for the first time in the summer of 2026, including a slot at Levenshulme Pride and I’m now on the lookout for more opportunities to share these words with the world.

Photos © Bex Wild, Danny Devlin, David X Brunt, Lauren Taylor

It is probably worth a little forewarning that this isn’t a neat, polished collection of poetry. Dogface Words are not designed to behave themselves. There’s humour, but also collapse. Tenderness, but also irritation. Clarity, but also overthinking to the extreme. It is, in essence, an unfiltered presentation of my heart, mind and soul – a big pink punk triangle that could be at home on a stage or written down. And yet, at the same time, this initial volume of work is interconnected: a set of poems in conversation with themselves and layered with meanings and references both oblique and painfully obvious. It is, in effect, a synecdoche museum of curiosity and hope… and I hope that at least some of it ends up meaning something to you.

My poems all rhyme – a hangover from teenage angst and a stubborn belief I was going to be a rock star, perhaps – but I like the idea that they could almost be songs if the right melody ever found them. They’re a little bit sweary at times, but I hope they run the gamut of making you laugh, cry, think, forget, want to fight and want to forgive… sometimes all at the same time.

Some of the subject matter may be uncomfortable. This collection includes explorations of grief, bigotry, mental health, and the way the darkest moments sit right next to the brightest ones. I don’t expect anyone to breeze through all of it, but I hope that where it gets difficult, you stay with it rather than step away into something easier.