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.

THESE DUSTLESS REALMS

What are these dustless
realms where man must
roam like a goat ? What
are these buildings that
hover like ogres over
the fields ? Why do the
hours glide like boats
across the scrub ? Everywhere
there is the dry tang of
profit. Everywhere cashiers
are nestled in cream. Where
are the darlings of owls
to vanquish the rats of
commerce ? Who has created
this city of metal where
the shimmerings of the sun are
reflected in the tooth of sin ?

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