Issue 106 / Dec 2019/Jan 2020

ARTISTIC
LICENCE
This month’s selection of poetry is taken from Matthew Thomas Smith’s
debut book, Songs - a collection of tales pulled from the most surreal
colours of the day to day.
When and where did you start writing poetry?
1994. Bootle, Merseyside. (They started out as nursery rhymes/
lullabies but I could not get the hang of the guitar.)
To what extent have local surroundings shaped your poetic
voice and written vernacular?
I do feel rooted in Bootle and Liverpool but through that same
language I also feel like a citizen of the earth.
The atmosphere and visual landscape of the poems featured
in Songs ranges from the desperately real to the sarcastic and
abstract. What is it that draws you to the themes featured
throughout the collection?
All of the poems are part autobiographical. I have lived these
poems. The poems are me and the world around me.
Would regard your poetry as a product of political upheaval, or
an answer to it? Can poetry be a vessel for change?
Both. It can, and I hope these poems can help to show that.
The day I went to the Job Centre
Out of place next to the well-used under
threat library
and not 300 yards from the block of flats
where some middle-aged fella threw
himself off
perhaps in response to the bedroom tax
or a recent smack drought
part-time vacancy notices still hang
next to the always-open automatic doors
they promise flexible hours and competitive
rates
it seems that nobody wants to be a
window-cleaner’s apprentice
or a courier for an ‘ever-expanding’ criminal
law firm
I shuffle from one foot to the other in the
falling queue
conscious of empty desks and out of use
signs on printers
You won’t find anything here son
jibes the well-dressed woman to my left
this is more of a ‘keeping up appearances’
set-up
If this collection of poetry is, as your press release states, to be
the last you will ever write, what statement do you wish the
collection to convey?
Nifty Records approached me to release a Poetry Collection. I had
never planned to. Songs feels likes a natural ending – 30 years of
me within one object. I feel I need to move on. I need to see what
else there is. I am not a messenger, as such. Not really. Ultimately,
I would like it if more people started to engage with poetry. That
has always been the aim.
Words: Matthew Thomas Smith / @mtsmith2605
Photography: John Johnson / @John.Johno
niftyrecords.com/shop/songs
Songs is available to pre-order now via Nifty Records and is
officially released on Friday 6 th December at The Royal Standard.
Idea for a British film that would probably
win an Academy Award
A rich fella with a plummy voice
has a cob on because
his mother just won’t die
and he can’t bear his wife
countless infidelities later
his mother dies
and he inherits a fortune
but he still isn’t happy
For the Mountaineers
climb the shale and slate
while it is still able
to take the burden
the daytripper-favouring path
only goes so far
leave the camera in the house
not everything is photo-worthy
use your eyes
kneel down
get closer
don’t take a tent
fold your flag into your pocket
be mindful of the summit
look out for kestrels or a search-party
headed by a bloodhound or a helicopter
and beware of robin redbreasts
rarer
knowing
tuned-in
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