The Hate Poems - Softcover

John Tottenham

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1878923293 ISBN 13: 9781878923295

Publisher: Amok Books, 2018

Synopsis

Tottenham's new collection elaborates on his two earlier volumes. In elegantly-wrought laments of self-depreciation and hateful love poems, he gives voice to thoughts most won't express, but will be entertained by. He has staked out a singular terrain where egotism and self-loathing meet, where futility merges with urgency, and beauty is created out of bitterness.

This is a mesmerising proof that poete maudit can survive, alive and unwell, in this benighted age, and that the dregs can sometimes be the cream.

About this title

About the Author

After many years of resistance, John Tottenham finally sold out to the lucrative, fast-paced world of poetry. He is the author of 'The Inertia Variations', an epic poetic cycle on the subject of work-avoidance, indolence and failure (a multi-media interpretation of this work by English musician Matt Johnson, otherwise known as The The, was released in 2017), His work has been described as "magnanimous misanthropy," "magical cynicism," and "an acquired taste that's for everybody."

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Broke, bitter and alone. What more could I possibly ask for? I have failed, at last, beyond my wildest expectations.I don’t understand why I’m still not satisfied. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but I wish I’d never met you. This union has neutered, infantilized, and smothered the remaining life out of me.You have inspired me to shut myself down in so many ways; you have killed my sense of wonder, and I love you for it.It took all these years to figure out that I’m not suited for relationships. Great: Now I can spend my old age alone and die a lonely death.After a long stretch of being one half of a couple, one half of myself, a sour thirst for a satisfying revulsion renews itself.From now on I’m going to be a shadow of my former shadow: Living in the present, negligibly, and regretting the past, sweepingly. Darling, please don’t let our love ever die. Because if it does, I’ll be shattered by all the time I’ve wasted keeping it alive. I might have done more had others done less,had I not been thwarted by the unsightly spectacleof other people’s success.?I felt satisfied. It was an unfamiliar and unsatisfying sensation. I wanted it to end. And it soon did.

Edition details

• Publisher: Amok Books
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1878923293
• ISBN 13: 9781878923295
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 80