Roy Joseph Cotton – September 11, '53 – March 10, '85

Roy commenced writing poetry during his latter school years. He read prolifically and was passionate about music and was a devote to Bob Dylan. He wrote many plays or "Musical Paintings" as he called them, and was also busy with two works "Multimythicum" and "Girlpools, Whirpools, and other gusts of Twirling Hair". He wrote from the security of a warm, close family in a comfortable Cape Town (South Africa) suburb. Yet most of his huge output of poems reflect a consuming angst. It was an angst which drove him to search for peace throughout books, music, writing, and religion, and it led to ultimate despair. His highly idiosyncratic way with language and the intense pressure of his emotional and spiritual concerns make his poetry compelling and disturbing reading. His untimely death at age of 31 cut short his promising career as a poet.

VADERTOG

VADERTOG:

Vadertog it’s coming;
the collective rain;
Vadertog it’s coming;
the seamy stain;
training the smoke to
whistle while we blow
Vadertog smoke right
through the hole of
our O. Vadertog it’s
coming our collective
sea; with no fnishnies
to bother our hoopwired
knee. Vadertog it never
pours violets with the
sun. Vadertog being
alive can be fun.

Note fnishnie is the supreme

embodiment of the artificial

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