What Don Corleone Did Next
upon retiring
from the mafia
he wove aquatic mammals
out of raffia
let me tell you
how I learnt this news:
he made me an otter
I could not refuse
Month: May 2026
A poem about the problem of writing poems in hot weather
Selected poemsThe Problem of Writing Poems in Hot Weather
The problem
of writingpoems
inhot weather
isthatthe words
getsweaty
and sticktogether.
Great big Brian Bilston bundle giveaway thingie
NewsUK people … here’s a nice thing from my publisher: the Great Big Brian Bilston Bundle Giveaway*.
It’s a chance to win copies of my books plus 2 free tickets to a show near you.
Alternatively, you could just buy those things.
Or even more alternatively, not buy those things at all. It’s completely up to you.
Anyway, here’s the link: https://www.panmacmillan.com/brian-bilston-bundle-giveaway
- * Please note that I am neither ‘great’ nor ‘big’
A poem for World Bee Day
Selected poemsThe Last Bee
After the last ee
had uzzed its last uzz,
the irds and the utterflies
did what they could.
ut soon the fields lay are,
few flowers were left,
nature was roken,
and the planet ereft.
A poem which isn’t the one I had hoped to write
Selected poemsThis is Not the Poem I Had Hoped to Write
This is not the poem I had hoped to write
when I sat at my desk and the page was white.
You see, there were other words I’d had in mind,
yet this is what I leave behind.
I thought it was a poem to eradicate war;
one of such power, it would heal all the sores
of a world torn apart by conflict and schism.
But it isn’t.
Lovers, I’d imagined, would quote from it daily,
Mothers would sing it to soothe crying babies.
And whole generations would be given new hope.
Nope.
I had grand aspirations. Believe me, I tried.
Humanity examined with lessons applied.
But the right words escaped me; so often they do.
Have these in lieu.
A poem for David Attenborough’s 100th birthday
Selected poemsLife of a Naturalist
it’s his birthday
and the sloths are up early for once
the flamingos line up in pink, long-legged salute
the birds of paradise parade in their finest
the elephants blow their trumpets
the blue whales gush with joy
the gorillas act out stories of his visits
the lions lay off the wildebeest for one day
and stand together on the Serengeti plain
the lyre birds sing his voice in tribute
the seals cannot stop clapping
and the ostriches urge us
to listen to him
and not bury our heads in the sand
2026 shows – low ticket alert
NewsMuch to my surprise, some of my shows this year are on the verge of selling out. You may need to get your rollerblades on if you plan to come to any of the following, which have fewer than 50 tickets remaining:
9May: FILEY Literature Festival
3 June: LEEK Arts Festival
4 June: CHESTER Literature Festival
8 Oct: DEAL Astor Theatre
10 Oct: COLCHESTER Arts Centre
14 Oct: LOUGHBOROUGH, MMC
7 Nov: BELLAGHY, Seamus Heaney HomePlace
13 Nov : HELMSLEY Arts Centre
14 Nov: POCKLINGTON Arts Centre
Shows in Bristol, Bury St Edmunds, Exeter, Leeds, London, Norwich and Stirling are also selling quickly.
For a full list of events, plus links to tickets, go here: https://brianbilston.com/events
*End of low ticket alert*