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.

GREEN ECSTACY

Tropical azure you astound me.
Leafred jungles you ignite me.
Blazing saffron cloaks your
eastern colours uplift me. Zinnia
terraced gardens your paradise
does not daunt me. For hidden
in your fibres i see the source
of the smallest tulip; the
source of all maids burning
with the flare of a forgotten
prince’s dream. Clap. Do not
wait for the terrible hour to be too
late. Praise the source not the thing.

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