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.

SPIRITUAL SALMON

What can the salmon
do but bury
her gills in the lilac
waters as a token
of her faith
in the sonorous harmony
that gels forth
from her reflection ?
Chambers of pent up gloom
cannot daunt
the majesty of the waters.
The girl who attempts
to flaunt her cheeks
with unholy peril
has not yet touched
the sweeping fullness
that can make a salmon
of all fishes
flicker the eternal.

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