the melancholy cafe

Spiral Out

2012-01-13T08:31:00.000Z

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My long awaited novella (long awaited by me, at least!), Spiral Out, will finally debut later in 2012 from Britain's fantastic Pulp Press.

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E-Book?

2011-12-28T20:14:00.000Z

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I'm working on polishing up a collection of short stories for a possible e-book. I can't name the publisher just yet as we are still at an early stage of assessing the compatibility of my work with their publishing ethos. Compromises at both ends are being made. I am optimistic an agreement can be reached.

Aside from that, I am of course an old fashioned man. I hadn't been thinking of releasing an e-book. But since people will be able to download the book for Kindle and Nook at a very low price it might provide an excellent introduction to my work for some people. Any writers visiting here that have found the positives in releasing e-books?

New Interview

2011-12-14T20:37:00.001Z

Author of the stunning horror / crime novel Apostle Rising, Richard Godwin, conducts this short interview with me for his "Quickfire" series of short, sharp writer interviews.

CLICK HERE

Editors

2011-11-17T16:03:00.000Z

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Many editors are already sailing close to the wind. I am just about ready to begin slitting throats.

I do not agree with this now quite common policy of not responding at all to submissions to their shitty little publications. No writer ever expected an in-depth critique with their rejection slips. But at least a curt but polite rejection slip was received in a timely manner. And this was in the days before the internet and we all had to use the mail. But suddenly these pompous bastards are too busy to even respond?

Bullshit. It takes one minute.

In view of this I no longer submit. Editors need to write to me requesting that I send some of my work along for publication. I will take a look at their publication and if it is of acceptable quality I will then consider doing them the favour of letting them have some of my work.

Although I may be too busy to inform them of my decision either way.

And the next editor that gives me any gyp and I'll knock their teeth right down their throat.

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Tearing Down the Monuments

2011-11-07T20:25:00.000Z

I only know that all governments are

fucking corrupt and their flags are stained

with blood

because I have seen the sun

glinting off monuments where

vast empires are built on foundations of

vanquished bonedust

I have walked those flowered fields

of death

and I have seen statues of their great dictators

lying broken like eggshells on the floor

the bronze bloodless hearts of politicians

ripped out of their hollow

diamonded chests

painted effigies fade to dull chasms

choking in short sharp gasps

as monarchies dissolve in entropy

turning into ephemeral dust

Laughing at the Death Grin on Amazon.

2011-10-15T11:26:00.002+01:00

Pulp Metal Fiction brings you an anthology of the finest genre-bending fiction from the cult and irreverent Pulp Metal Magazine. Featuring dark and odd tales from the very best independent authors on the scene today!
Pulp Metal Magazine 'best of' anthology. Featuring my short story Solidarity of the Damned.

Now available for Kindle.

Click here for more info / purchasing on Amazon. There's also a good reader review.

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The First Flower

2011-09-18T15:23:00.002+01:00

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I have a new short story entitled The First Flower in the upcoming issue 6 of Savage Kick Magazine. This is a print publication of hard core fiction from Murder Slim Press. More when the magazine becomes available.

Savage Kick is a fantastic publication who have previously featured Dan Fante, Tommy Trantino, Mark SaFranko and NY best selling author Seymour Shubin. So I'm pretty pleased to be in the mag.

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Review of Road Trip & Other Poems.

2011-09-13T08:07:00.001+01:00

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Neon Literary Magazine review my new chapbook.

Good review!

Click Here.

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Interview.

2011-09-01T13:59:00.000+01:00

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Noir and crime writer Paul D. Brazill conducts his short, sharp interview with me at his blog. I keep telling people I give the most entertaining interviews. Read the interview with Paul and find out why.

CLICK HERE.

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Good News

2011-08-30T21:14:00.000+01:00

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In light of the fact that I don't have anything else to say....

Good news! I've just heard from Brighton's Pulp Press that they should have the proofs for my debut novel Spiral Out to me by this Thursday. So it'll be the final check over and then.... forwards with the book.

Fantastic.

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Guest Blog

2011-08-21T08:09:00.003+01:00

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You may already have seen these 2 poems floating around, and Social Engineering is from my current chapbook, Road Trip & Other Poems.

Check out Paul D. Brazill's blog anyway, it's an eclectic mix of writing and an excellent source for anyone looking for hard-boiled and noir magazines from around the world - and Paul's own writing.

Paul D. Brazill Blogspot

Video Poem

2011-08-12T20:58:00.001+01:00

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New video poem made by Gordon Eight-Ball at www.eightballphotography.com

Never Feel The Sun.

2011-08-09T17:20:00.002+01:00

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A new short story entitled Never Feel the Sun is up at Underground Resistance. Click link below to read.

Never Feel The Sun.

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Interview.

2011-07-27T06:41:00.000+01:00

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Me, interviewed by Adam Campbell on his 9Sense Podcast at Radio Free Satan. My deepest, heartfelt, most humble apologies if I said anything that upsets anyone.

u.v.ray interview

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2 Older Poems

2011-07-25T06:28:00.000+01:00

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Here's two older poems, from my first book, The Blood In My Veins:

On A Chicago City Street

Stark
as a
black and white
photograph;
a girl who was
beautiful
stood
so statuesque
amidst
the tempest
of siren wail
and taxi cab
horn blast.

The Kimberly Hotel, New York

her

hot blood

rushes

through veins

swollen with passion,

skin flushed

as a pink rose;

while

beyond hotel windows

city lights

pulse

to the spark

of love's momentary

fusion.

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Video Poem

2011-07-23T19:28:00.000+01:00

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Whispers reach my ears that Gordon Eightball, who photographed the fantastic cover for Road Trip & Other Poems, is working on filming footage for a video poem of mine. I hope to post the finished vid here soon. I'm looking forward to seeing what he comes up with. I merely recited a poem as a voiceover.

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Interview...

2011-07-15T15:57:00.000+01:00

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Adam Campbell has just interviewed me for his 9Sense podcast on Radio Free Satan, where I talk about my new chapbook Road Trip & Other Poems - in addition to going off on tangents about things that bother me enormously in the world of literature.

The interview airs next week. I'll provide a link here when it becomes available.

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Spiral Out

2011-06-26T07:02:00.000+01:00

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I've heard whispers from Pulp Press regarding my novella Spiral Out that the ISBN now has my name on it. I wonder how much longer it will be before the world gets to see the book?

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Broadsides now available.

2011-06-22T22:07:00.001+01:00

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These are very nice limited edition broadsides, published and produced by 48th Street Press in Venezuela.

Click here to see!
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Signed Copies of My New Chapbook.

2011-06-17T21:28:00.004+01:00

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As arrogant as it sounds, I know. However, a few people have requested them so...

There will be 25 signed copies of Road Trip and Other Poems direct from me. However, I can't offer free P+P like the publisher and prices are £8.00 (U.K) and $15.00 (USA).

Standard copies can still be purchased P+P free from Erbacce Press at just £5. ($8.20).

Please go to my site via the link below for details.

http://www.uvray.moonfruit.com/#/books/4513803242

Many thanks.

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New Chapbook now available!

2011-06-16T10:19:00.001+01:00

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My new chapbook, Road Trip and Other Poems is now available from Erbacce Press. Price is just £5.00 ($8.20). Postage is free. Erbacce are a small indie publisher, however, so if you're overseas if you could perhaps throw in just a dollar or two extra to help postage costs it would be hugely appreciated by them, though that is definitely not compulsory.

Please click here to purchase.

Many thanks.

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Video

2011-06-02T14:58:00.001+01:00

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Here's me reading another one from my forthcoming chapbook, Road Trip and Other Poems:

Retiring.

2011-05-24T12:06:00.000+01:00

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Well, Road Trip & Other Poems is on the way. I have just yesterday finished writing my 3rd novella. I have nothing more to give. I can now retire from writing forever!

The novellas may sink or swim.

I'm drunk out of my mind. Not a care in the world.

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Road Trip And Other Poems

2011-05-08T17:55:00.000+01:00

Coming very soon from Liverpool's fantastic Erbacce Press. My second book of poetry:

As If By Magic!

2011-05-05T17:20:00.001+01:00

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Just when I was ready to give up the ghost. It looks like my second book of poetry will soon see the light of day.

Of course, I am not at liberty to say more just yet. There are papers to be signed. But get ready to get your hands in your pockets! Finally, I might even be able to buy a morsel of food.

I hereby retract my previous statement declaring my retirement.

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Retired.

2011-05-04T18:21:00.000+01:00

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As readers of my Twitter will know, having become disillusioned with the world of publishing I have, today, given up writing for good. This time it's for real, I tell you.

In light of this, here is what you could call a kind of epitaph. My poem Coronet of Ash - originally published in the Scream poetry Anthology, 2007.

Coronet of Ash

Returning to the city

of 20 years before,

the street no longer throbs

with that old familiar cadence;

no longer swings to the beat

of rent boys and pimps -

the titty bars are gone

the triple XXX cinemas

and all the old dance clubs

have closed.

Now austere faces

stare from the glimmering facades

of pseudo-suave

cosmopolitan bistros

where the music is turned down low

and the precincts resound

to the brutal sound of pneumatic drills

as they bulldoze the buildings

and tear up the pavements

the hookers once cruised.

The heart of this town has died

and you can hear

the crack of its bones

as the cement of its past

crumbles like a coronet of ash

upon the broken skull

of a pawn.

At Zouch Magazine

2011-04-20T18:31:00.000+01:00

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An excerpt from my novel in progress Fucking Bulletproof is up at Canada's fantabulous Zouch Magazine. Click the link below:

A novel excerpt

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Poetry Broadsides.

2011-04-17T08:33:00.000+01:00

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News on my site regarding the poetry broadsides from 48th Street Press. Please click the link below:

Poetry Broadsides.

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Video

2011-03-31T07:34:00.000+01:00

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It appears that it's now much easier to post clips on Blogger. Used to be quite complicated. I did this a couple of years ago with only the laptop's webcam, so quality is quite poor. However, for want of any other news to impart - take a look...

Poetry Broadsides

2011-03-28T17:13:00.006+01:00

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Poetry broadsides from me coming very soon on 48th Street Press. They will be numbered and signed - not many people will get their hands on one of these babies!

Of course, I live in fear that no one will want one! But if you would, check back here or contact me through my site. Providing I don't drop dead any time soon and I am able to complete my mission in life these could be very collectible pieces in the future. I will only be charging a small amount to cover postage and packing.

These broadsides will be in extremely limited numbers of only 20 (that's 40 in all / 2 poems / 20 of each.) And some are already taken so there will probably only be 15 more available.

48th Street Press in Caracas, Venezuela, have, amongst others, previously published Douglas Blazek and the late f.a. nettelbeck; and now u.v.ray! I feel very honoured (and humbled) to be amongst such company.

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New Short Fiction

2011-03-23T06:58:00.001Z

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I have new short fiction up at Horror Sleaze Trash.

(Content warning)

Ballad of a Suburban Pigsty

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Cracks in the Pavement

2011-03-04T17:16:00.004Z

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there is a sadness to it all

I just want to find something

beautiful

even if only for a minute

not like the printed face of Edie Sedgwick

in the poster panels

but something I can hold

in the city

behind the facade

steel girders are corroding

concrete structures crumble away

and love affairs are long lost

in the crowd

just for one minute

I wish I could find

something less ephemeral

like a sea-smoothed stone

or a butterfly or

a rose

pushing up through
the cracks

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New Fiction

2011-02-14T22:05:00.000Z

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My challenge was to write a piece of fiction in just 657 words.

Reader discretion advised.

Excerpt From The Diary of a Necrophiliac.

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Meet Me at Gethsemane (book review)

2011-02-06T00:20:00.004Z

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I was intrigued as to why Paul Harrison requests the pleasure of our company in Gethsemane, of all places.

If you’re looking for solutions in life don’t expect Paul Harrison to enlighten you. In his chapbook Meet Me at Gethsemane Paul isn’t looking to provide answers.

The brutal and uncompromising poems in this collection are tinged with moments of surprising tenderness, though the unyielding message seems clear: life beats us all down in the end. Harrison hammers his points home with quite spectacular lines like:

as if my smile / were blood borne / as if around my neck / read nil by mouth / and i were quarantined / in heavy water silence / as if just talking / meant crossing a knot / of crime scene tape / and i the victim / suspect / spilling his guts / all over their dreams.

These poems tell stories of despair, love, death, lonliness and loss, all observed from a perspective where human fragility is all ultimately irresolvable. The sheer futility of human existence is captured through Harrison’s ability to so well convey the emotional essence which always seems to be at the heart of his subject matter.

This isn't to say Paul's work is all doom and gloom. He finds moments of respite amidst all the despair, sometimes with humour, but more often with really quite touching lines, such as in All At Sea:

as another little child / hugs me tight and asks / daddy are there sharks out there / and i suddenly afraid /say / yes / but far far away / hoping that somehow / someday / we might all return / to you / no more words / or thoughts / or bombs / or fear.

The simple, direct narrative in much of Paul’s work shouldn’t confuse anyone into thinking the poems themselves are simple. There are layers at work here that really do require several readings before their meaning is fully revealed.

Of course, Gethsemane is dominated by a structure known as the Church of the Agony. For the religious, it is seen as a place of prayer for the most despairing of individuals. It is said to be the place where Christ prayed so fervently the night before his execution that he perspired blood (and indeed Paul references this in his dedication to the late poet f.a.nettelbeck).

Perhaps Harrison’s conclusion is that none of us have a prayer, that the idea of prayer is useless? Or maybe he is saying prayer is our only hope? I don’t know which.

Paul Harrison Blogs Here

Meet Me at Gethsemane by Paul Harrison. Mulla Mulla Press. ISBN: 978-0-9870771-0-3
mullamullapress.com

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Revolution Baby!

2011-02-05T15:33:00.002Z

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I've lost my impetus. In the absence of anything new to post; here is a link to a poem of mine from January 2009 at The Beat Literary Webzine.

I thought of it again recently in the light of the British government's plans to close down the libraries. It is unfortunate but it's no good everyone being up in arms over this now! The fact is that the great unwashed simply do not read enough books these days - even less use the libraries. The horse has bolted, it's too late for them to start whining because something has been taken off them. Shoulda used 'em when they had 'em.

Revolution!

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Fragile As We Are

2011-01-18T09:22:00.003Z

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It's a love story by u.v.ray. No, really. Honestly this time, it's a love story at Underground Resistance:

Fragile As We Are

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Gregory Corso

2011-01-17T21:09:00.000Z

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Today is the 10th anniversary of the death of American poet Gregory Corso. There are many ways this much overlooked writer could be remembered. Nothing of such brevity is adequate; but here he reads his poem...

BOMB!

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Solidarity of the Damned

2011-01-08T12:20:00.000Z

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It's an uplifting, heart-warming tale with which to begin the new year.

Solidarity of the Damned at Pulp Metal Magazine:

http://tinyurl.com/3227b9t

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Reading 6 Poems.

2010-12-15T10:06:00.000Z

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You can hear me reading 6 poems on The Beat Podcast. One of my contemporaries on the literary scene, Joseph Ridgwell is also reading some of his excellent stuff.

My own segment begins at 3:10. But we both introduce ourselves so you will know who is who:

Transmisson...

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In the Melancholy Cafe.

2010-12-11T09:49:00.002Z

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My latest short story at Pulp Metal Magazine. I had to wait to read this one myself! Written in a drunken haze I honestly couldn't remember writing a single word of it.

In the Melancholy Cafe.

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Confessions of a Black Dog

2010-12-07T12:46:00.002Z

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Confessions of a Black Dog, the new novel by my chum Jason Michel is now available on Brownpaper Publishing.

http://brownpaperpub.wordpress.com/front-catalogue/

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Reflections in D Minor

2010-11-25T13:35:00.000Z

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Reflections in D Minor my new short story is at Byker Books.

Some strange editing been done on this. I originally wrote it in an anarchic style without any correct grammar. The editor of the site appears to have edited in the grammar in some parts and not in others.

Nothing to worry about. Just in case you wonder.

However, for those so inclined... it's a love story by u.v.ray.

Reflections in D Minor at Byker Books

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The Writer

2010-11-22T17:24:00.000Z

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New short story entitled The Writer is up at Underground Resistance. For many of you this kitchen-sink comedy will be like looking in a mirror.

The Writer by u.v.ray

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Resistance Underground

2010-11-17T15:59:00.000Z

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Some great updates at Underground Resistance. Even I have my face stuck in there!

Read. Leave comments. Submit your poetry and fiction.

Smash the literati! Join the resistance today...

Resistance Underground.

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The Migrant

2010-11-16T08:56:00.002Z

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New short story at The Beat Literary Webzine.

It was a risky one. I wasn't sure anyone would either publish it on paper or put it up at their site.

The Migrant at The Beat Literary Webzine.

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The Cancer Industry

2010-11-02T19:25:00.001Z

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New story, The Cancer Industry, at Underground Resistance.

http://resistanceunderground.wordpress.com/

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At the Slaughterhouse

2010-10-17T16:16:00.000+01:00

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Novelist Richard Godwin and me talk literature, alienation and who should be put to death. The mealy-mouthed, politically correct amongst us are advised not to read my latest interview:

http://www.richardgodwin.net/interviews/chin-wag-at-the-slaughterhouse-interview-with-u-v-ray

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Apostle Rising

2010-10-16T14:16:00.002+01:00

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Check out Richard Godwin's new novel Apostle Rising. It sounds like a blinder!

Detective Chief Inspector Frank Castle never caught the Woodlands Killer and it almost destroyed him. Now many years later and still suffering from nightmares, he is faced with a copycat killer with detailed inside knowledge of the original case. Someone is crucifying politicians, and Castle and his partner DI Jacki Stone enter a labyrinth. At its centre is the man Castle believes was responsible for the first killings. He’s running a sinister cult and playing mind games with the police. And the ritualistic killer keeps raising the stakes and slipping through their hands. The body count is rising. Castle employs a brilliant psychologist to help him solve the case, and he begins to dig into the killer’s psyche. But some psychopaths are cleverer than others.

www.richardgodwin.net/books

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Ballad of a Pen Pusher

2010-10-01T20:38:00.001+01:00

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New short fiction from me at A Twist of Noir:

http://a-twist-of-noir.blogspot.com/2010/10/twist-of-noir-589-uv-ray.html

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Dancing With Myself

2010-09-26T20:49:00.000+01:00

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At the request of Nigel Bird I took part in his Dancing With Myself series of interviews at Sea Minor:

u.v.ray interviews.... u.v.ray

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Bird With Broken Wings

2010-09-26T08:42:00.000+01:00

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Originally written a number of years ago:

the hardest part is

coming down

I am a bird with broken wings

blowing through the city streets
like newspaper
in the wind

there’s no more amphetamine rush
of streetlights
frenzied before my eyes

I’m just dying in the embers

and not even riding subway trains
at midnight

or sticking a needle
in my veins

solves the sense of desolation

the exhilaration has
gone

I’m just dissolving into the
ether of

another bland sunrise
reflected in shop windows

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New Fiction

2010-08-23T09:35:00.000+01:00

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Latest fiction entitled Where Are The Assassins at Pulp Metal Magazine. Thanks to those who have left such brilliant comments there so far, it is very much appreciated.

Where Are The Assassins at Pulp Metal Magazine.

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2 New Poems

2010-08-21T09:51:00.001+01:00

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2 new poems featured in issue 4 of Turbulence Magazine. It's a print magazine again everybody peeps, so no free reads again - but it's a good little small press 'zine and you can check out their website here:

http://turbulencemagazine.webs.com/

These small presses are the glory days. In the not too distant homogenised and sterile future we may not see their likes again.

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Open Wide Magazine

2010-07-02T13:58:00.001+01:00

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2 Poems appear in issue 23 (July 2010) of Open Wide Magazine.

http://www.openwidemagazine.co.uk/

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New Interview

2010-06-14T07:06:00.002+01:00

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Be fearful. The guilty are named and secrets divulged. I am indiscreet by nature. Interviewed at Pulp Metal Magazine:

Click Here!

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Latest Fiction

2010-05-11T21:42:00.001+01:00

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Latest fiction:

Diamonds Inc' (flash fiction)

And The Music Lives On. (Short story)

http://pulpmetalmagazine.wordpress.com/category/fiction/

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Load The Guns !!!

2010-05-01T08:18:00.001+01:00

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The most exciting literary anthology in a decade NOW AVAILABLE on Blackheath Books.
Be quick and get your hands on a limited edition featuring extra material on spoken word CD.

Featuring myself and a whole swathe of other underground writers like Joe Ridgwell and Chris Killen.

The Beat Anthology on Blackheath books.

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London Reading.

2010-04-18T14:56:00.004+01:00

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I will be reading in Soho, London on July 3rd 2010, at The Coach & Horses, 29 Greek Street, Soho.

The evening is sponserd by GJ Press, Tangerine Press, Blackheath books and 3AM Magazine. There will be some of the biggest names on the literary underground on the bill and the event is to receive media coverage.

If you're in London you do not want to miss this! Just check out the names on the bill!

Latest Fiction at Byker Books

2010-04-14T18:13:00.004+01:00

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Read my thrilling new story "Point Blank" at Byker Books:

www.bykerbooks.co.uk/PointBlank.aspx

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u.v.ray / Jessie Zehr posters now available.

2010-04-09T10:52:00.003+01:00

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If you are in Syracuse you will now see the 63 x 49 u.v.ray haiku posters in the poster panels all around downtown. Haiku by me and art by Jessie Zehr.

Smaller 11 x 17 prints are available for purchase here:

Syracuse Poster Poem Project

Latest Fiction At Byker Books.

2010-03-28T17:36:00.002+01:00

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You can read my new short story online at the Byker Books website.

http://bykerbooks.co.uk/NoExit.aspx

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Celebrity

2010-03-21T10:46:00.001Z

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caught stark in strobe
light --

movements s-t-u-t-t-e-r-e-d

in a barrage of camera
flash --

getting out of the limo or
waiting at the airport

eating a mcdonalds --

or a junkie coming out
of rehab.

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Le Danton, 103 Boulevard, St-Germain

2010-03-18T19:51:00.001Z

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Paris, beautiful --

sparkling at night. The bartender
mixes me a drink and laughs -- I have
no idea

what it is -- but it’s getting late and
I think he wants to close and it
just about finishes me
off.

A prostitute walks in -- she has long
red hair and a tight blue dress and
eyes like a cat.

The landlady shouts at her
to get out.

She turns and saunters back onto
the street -- swinging her hips in a
mesmerising show of
defiance.

On my walk back to the hotel
fireworks explode over Notre
Dame --

like a million fireflies glittering
crimson

lighting up the
sky.

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Lord Admiral Nelson's Blind Eye

2010-02-16T23:51:00.003Z

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drink the finest single malt whiskey

from lead crystal glasses

smoke cigars rolled on the taut thigh

of a young virgin

on a hot night in Havana

cut yourself free of the gauntlet

refuse to deal with banks

put the telescope to your tainted eye

and proclaim with nonchalance

I see no ships

Cult Fiction

2010-02-10T08:26:00.003Z

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Another short story entitled Disintegration in Cult Fiction at Alternative Reel:

http://www.tinyurl.com/yhypt6a

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New Short Story

2010-02-02T22:41:00.002Z

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My new short story, The Rag & Bone Man, appears at:

The Beat Literary Webzine

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u.v.ray hits Syracuse, NY.

2009-12-08T13:02:00.001Z

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...or rather, his work does.

For the last ten years Syracuse College for the visual & performing arts in New York have produced a poetry and art collaboration for their annual Poster Project.

I am extremely pleased and proud to announce that in 2010 one of the posters will feature a Haiku by ole' u.v.

The 43 x 62 posters will appear in the poster panels all over downtown Syracuse and in the city's art exhibitions.

I haven't yet seen the illustration for my own poem. But they are always very handsome and 11 x 17 prints, printed on quality 90 pound paper, will be available for about $20.

These are sure to become a real u.v.ray collectors item of the future and when framed will make a lovely item for your home! You will also be helping the arts department of the local college and university in Syracuse.

I will post an update when they are available. I can't wait to see the illustration.

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Alternative Reel

2009-10-25T22:18:00.004Z

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Why do poets always have to stashed away over in the corner? I dunno. Perhaps because they all write crap like me.

5 poems in the "poets corner" at Alternative Reel:

www.alternativereel.com/includes/poets-corner/display_review.php?id=00055

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Latest Poetry

2009-10-18T23:20:00.000+01:00

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Visitors here will probably already have seen them but three of my poems are featured in issue 3 of Kill Author Literary Journal. Do give the magazine a blast there's a lot of other great work there by other writers aswell.

http://killauthor.com/

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New Excerpt From Spiral Out

2009-10-01T17:55:00.001+01:00

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You can read a thrilling new excerpt from my forthcoming novel, Spiral Out, at my website.

Just look on the menu and go to "the novel" page.

http://www.uvray.moonfruit.com/

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Tyne Cot War Cemetery

2009-09-22T20:00:00.001+01:00

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I thought I saw the most beautiful red rose

blowing in the wind
in a corner of the field

but it was just a remnant of
a blood-stained flag
caught on a barbed wire fence

-

Novel Excerpt on Dissolution Word.

2009-09-16T16:08:00.007+01:00

-

George Orwell's classic work of literature, 1984, is a novel depicting themes of dehumanisation, isolation, repression, social class disparity and abuse of power in society.

My own novel, to be entitled Spiral Out - likewise set in the 80's - is a story about absolutely nothing!

You can now read a tantalising excerpt from Spiral Out at Word Dissolution.

Below it you can also see a clip of me reading my poem Notes In A Taxi Cab.

Paste the below link:

http://dissolution252.wordpress.com/2009/09/18/spiral-out-an-excerpt-from-the-novel-by-u-v-ray/

-

Bencini Comet Camera: 1948

2009-08-18T16:03:00.004+01:00

-

to think of the streets it has
photographed

life stories

from another
age

myriad of long gone hotels
on grand seaside
promenades

and those italian riviera
cafés

where two lovers
now not seen in
decades

laughed over macchiato caldo

before walking hand
in hand

along rain washed portofino
boulevards
in the evening

-

Brooklyn Bridge

2009-08-17T06:31:00.001+01:00

-------------

There are no answers
where the eye dilated
catches the stars
in the numbness
of retrospection.
And death’s hand
clutches the still heart
to its chest;
the spilled blood
like a million roses
cast adrift
on East River swell.
And in the long shadow
of Manhattan,
the coming sound
of the dead man’s bell.

-

In The Morning

2009-08-16T09:39:00.000+01:00

-

peaches & cream
& cigarettes
for breakfast
no less

her sense of carelessness

as the morning world
slithers
through blinds

I watch

entranced

her ethereal form
slide into
a youthful dress

outside city windows

time stands still

traffic idles
in jams

& the death smog hangs
like a fading old
photograph

whilst
in santa cruz

someone walks
along those ragged shores

where one wonders
how great the symphony

of rolling seas resound
as a copper august morning
silently draws

its golden shawl

across immeasurable
skies

her blonde hair falls
in cascades

her gaze blue as
the ocean

left in the wake

of her young heart
beat

i am in silence

-

Beauty Like A Snake

2009-08-08T20:23:00.003+01:00

-

I understand
that a sad film can make you cry;
and yet you have difficulty
having feelings
for anyone who gets too close.
I understand
that to the world you project
a false image of yourself
in order to protect your own inner tumult.
I understand
that because of this
others don’t think a real you exists.
I understand
why to you it makes more sense
to keep people at safe distance.
I understand
that everytime you give something of yourself
it does not elicit the same from those
whom you have loved.
I understand
how it feels to face life
with scar tissue exposed.
I understand
that your outer shell is fortified;
and that’s why you find solace in retreat.
I understand
how it is you exhaust yourself
just trying to contain the emotions within.
I understand
why your mirror image sometimes feels
like someone else staring back.
And I understand why
when certain people break through the walls
you have erected
it leaves you feeling vulnerable
and numb inside.

-

Until Then

2009-08-01T08:14:00.005+01:00

-

In the house, whiskey'd up at the typer. Tonight: the greatest thing I have ever written! In the morning: the worst thing I've ever read! Managed to churn this one out. Is it the worst thing I've ever read? Probably not, otherwise I wouldn't post it. But ultimately, I don't know. Writers are notoriously bad judges of their own work.

sometimes alone

sitting with my possessions

surrounded by
all the things I have collected
and loved

while ships are crossing
dark oceans

and stars
are in the sky

the march of tin soldiers

war all the time

doesn’t matter

because

despite skies and oceans

a million cities glittering
between us

she is inextricably
in

my flesh and blood

in 1000 years

when empires have risen
and fallen

mountains crumbled

and both of us dissolved

this moment will
remain

desire

unfulfilled

------------

Don't Cook Drunk.

2009-07-29T15:07:00.003+01:00

Got slaughtered on wine again last night. Against my usual discipline of never cooking whilst drunk: I burned my hand making chilli fries. I'm sitting here typing one handed, my burnt one submerged in bowl of cold water.

I'm slipping back into old ways.

But anyway, it made me think of this one:

Revolution
-------------

staring from the window
of a corner café

there is no release

from the monotony of grey
november streets
scarred with the contortions
of so many desolate lives

& starvation is a dish best served cold

when the only things that ever alternate
are traffic lights & corporate ad
campaigns

because nothing changes in times

when the revolution wont even make headlines

& in actuality less likely
in view of the fact
that

desire for insurrection
diminishes in the
flood

of banal tv commercials

& words become mere abstractions
that drip from young rebellious
lips

to support concepts they want you
to believe have solid
& wholesome
foundations

but its quite simple

whole armies are mobilised
to protect internal finances
(one way or another)

& any other reason propped up
as legitimate validation

is plain & simple subterfuge

& if you have a problem
with that

then go & live in
a country that itself is politically ineffectual
and subject to persistent
rape

or

start the god damned revolution

get off your ass

either that

or just go back to your tv
& coca cola

go eat your chilli fries

& shut the fuck up

u.v.ray

-

Dreaming Away The Days...

2009-07-29T08:34:00.005+01:00

I was originally going to call my second collection of poetry Tarantula. But I've changed my mind and it will now be called Road Trip & Other Poems. It is a collection of my work published in the small presses around the world from the period 2005 - 2009. I could self-publish right now. Or go with the publisher of my last book. But I want to look into a few other options that might serve the book better first. But whilst I await news I've been dreaming away the days by putting some thought into the cover.

Whichever route I take I must insist on having some control over how the book looks. I've been imagining something like the image above. I'm not sure what one might call this kind of design aesthetic but I knocked that one together earlier all the same.

Does that look good?

Hmm. I don't know.

Coronet of Ash

2009-07-28T22:07:00.003+01:00

-

Returning to the city
of 20 years before,
the street no longer throbs
with that old familiar cadence;

no longer swings to the beat
of rent boys and pimps -

the titty bars are gone

the triple XXX cinemas

and all the old dance clubs
have closed.
Now austere faces stare
from the glimmering facades
of pseudo-suave cosmopolitan bistros,

where the music is turned down low
and the precincts resound
to the brutal sound of pneumatic drills
as they bulldoze the buildings
and tear up the pavements
the hookers once cruised.

The heart of this town has died
and you can hear
the crack of its bones
as the cement of its past
crumbles like a coronet of ash
upon the broken skull
of a pawn.

-
u.v.ray
30th June 2006.

Returning

2009-07-25T11:06:00.002+01:00

-

staring down both barrels
of a shot
gun

the last thing he saw
were the red dahlias in a vase
on his window sill

set against the blue sky
they looked more beautiful
than he’d ever known before

and he thought he saw a
bloodied soldier fall

as a single petal severed
and fell to the
floor

and in the instantaneous
spark of the gun

he knew that in finality
everything is just as simple
and arbitrary

as this

.

Dancer In The Stars & Stripes Bikini

2009-07-08T21:13:00.013+01:00

Older than the other girls
a veteran of the
stage

she is beautiful

with her bottle blonde hair
and cellulite

spreading her legs
in the glare of violet
neon spot lights

been working the joint for years

but no one will ever know
the depth of
her real feelings

or taste the bitter
sweet beauty of her tears

night after night
writhing in cigarette smoke
and ten dollar stares

she makes me think
of all those lonely
seas

a garland of roses

reflected in eyes the colour
of autumn leaves

and how her skin
looks so blue

glistening

like an iceberg
in moonlight
sonata

-------------------

2nd February 2009

Taken from my forthcoming

2nd book of poetry, Road Trip & Other Poems.

u.v

Ancient Persian Parable

2009-07-08T19:24:00.001+01:00

-

Out walking one hot, summer day a holy-man stopped to quench his thirst at a river. As he sat he noticed there was a praying mantis perched on a rock beside him.

“Tell me, little mantis,” said the holy-man. “What is it you are doing?”

“I am praying,” replied the mantis.

“And how long have you been sat there praying so?”

The mantis told the holy-man that he had been sat on the rock for exactly one year, three months, a week and two days.

The holy man was impressed with the little mantis’ tenacity and devotion and thus he eagerly enquired, “And what wisdom does God impart to you?”

“He does not reply,” was the mantis’ sombre answer.

The holy-man was extremely disappointed to hear this but remarked with great encouragement what faith the mantis had in persevering in his prayers for so long.

The mantis then turned to the holy-man and said, “Perhaps it is of great fortune to me that you have come here today, for you are surely enlightened on these matters. My wife has left me for another, my brothers have forsaken me, I am starving – I have no job and no food in my larder. Truly, there is no one in this world who cares for me. Tell me, Holy-Man, why is it that God does not hear my prayers?”

“He hears as surely as I do,” said the Holy-Man, reaching out and flicking the mantis into the river. “But nobody likes a whining little cunt.”
-

2 A.M.

2009-07-06T06:58:00.005+01:00

-

I am more dead
than alive;

no feelings
left

for anyone or anything.

Just a dead-eyed stare
in the bathroom
mirror

spitting blood in the basin.

I go to the refrigerator,
pour a whiskey & Coca
Cola;

ice cold

and
oil slick black.

Sit watching
orange street lights
illuminate

the night’s inertia.

--------------------
13th Sept' 2008.
Taken from my forthcoming
second book of poetry,
Road Trip & Other Poems

u.v.

-

Beat Scene Magazine

2009-07-05T10:51:00.004+01:00

Sometime around 1988 - 92 I discovered Beat Scene Magazine. Like most people I was already aware of big name writers like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. But the magazine was instrumental in helping me also discover some of the lesser known writers linked to the beat movement. Although I do not consider myself a beat writer, Beat Scene Magazine was thus an important ingredient in my own development as a writer.
Not being of the internet generation, the net is not always the first thing I think of when I want to look something up. I've wondered about Beat Scene Magazine over the years, But recently, whilst doing some online research for the novel I am working on, I had an epiphany: Beat Scene probably has a website!
And I was right! The magazine is still going strong and if beat writing is your thing a subscription to the print mag is well worth the investment:

http://www.beatscene.net/index.asp

*

On Being A Hero....

2009-06-12T07:42:00.003+01:00

Being a hero is not quite such a mystery, really.

It's quite simply having the courage to face yourself and be true to yourself in a world that attempts to inflict a personality upon you.

95% of the people you know are perhaps not who they appear to be. They've unconsciously adopted their personalities and are living in ignorance of who they really are.

Heroism is fulfilling our potential as individuals; no one I have ever known do this has been anything other than single-minded in the pursuit of their life mission.

Zeroes don't have life missions. Zeroes live and die in obscurity. Not even a speck of dust in the wake of humanity.

I've referred to him before and I'll refer to him again:

Dr. Elmer Gates (1853 - 1923) called heroic people "world workers" and said:

"A person whose genius or other predilection is contributory to the development of any science, art, philosophy or religion as a lifework and having accepted his mission and administering it for the world's weal and his own happiness - he is a world worker!"

And that is the crux of the matter. That is the true import of what I am really talking about. The question, therefore, one must ask themselves is not what is a hero? The questions one must have the courage to ask of themselves are: who am I? what is my genius?
_________________________

New Poem

2009-05-30T12:09:00.006+01:00

Death Gives Life Its Value

for Mary Millington, who bought beauty and hope to a schoolboy's world.

the mistake is thinking we have so much time

when in reality
every second is slipping away from us

but we are free as birds
flirting in the springtime sun

just for our own brief moment
we are free to live and love

we are shooting stars
burning up across a brilliant night sky

and then we vanish
like smoke on the ocean horizon

like a cloud

no one will ever see our exact form
in that exact place

again

Dog My Tikka.

2009-05-28T11:34:00.004+01:00

I've recently heard from Susan Tomaselli, editor of the acclaimed Dogmatika literary and arts magazine, that two of my poems, entitled Elegy and Death Valley '89, will appear on the website shortly.

Dogmatika has regular updates of poetry, fiction, film, reviews and interviews with world renowned artists. Currently one of the most important places for an artist to get his work seen in. Click Here to read the poems at Dogmatika:

http://dogmatika.wordpress.com/2009/05/29/two-poems-3/

-------------------

The Holy Bible: My Review

2009-05-23T22:41:00.004+01:00

I have recently read this novel called The Holy Bible. It’s about this woman called Mary Christ who gives birth to a bastard son whom she names Jesus. In those days unmarried mothers were often stoned to death. So to escape such punishment Mary Christ concocts the story that God himself impregnated her. Because of this Jesus Christ grows up to find himself on the receiving end of constant ridicule. However, as a coping mechanism, Jesus decides to play along with his mother’s ruse. Ever the joker, he manages to convince people he can do such things as walk on water by standing on a rock just below the surface. He also goes about the market squares touching the sick and telling them they are healed. Even though these people usually die a short while later, many of the simple, uneducated village types are fooled and he garners a rag-taggle following of drop-outs, thieves, alcoholics and mentally deficient morons. Unfortunately for Jesus his tomfoolery does not impress the Roman authorities and after issuing him with a number of warnings, they finally tire of his prattle and execute him.

Essentially, the book is not too badly written from a literary point of view. But it’s actually not at all as funny as it was obviously intended – in fact, if I’m honest, I found the whole thing extremely depressing.

--------------------

This Week's Image Search...

2009-05-07T08:05:00.007+01:00

Last week, the awful countenance of John Cooper Clarke was regurgitated from the bowels of Google images in response to a search for "vile creature" This week I searched for "Horrible Man" and what do you know? Google threw up the ruddy visage of renowned poet Andrew Motion. Possibly the most boring, irrelevant poet in existence, it was a foregone conclusion that his work would fit neatly into the lives of middle England - quietly bridging any generation gaps, his poems could be read without causing any offence to either children in schools or old ladies at afternoon tea gatherings and Motion was made the U.K poet laureate during 1999 - 2009.
Here, marvel at just a snippet of his pure mediocrity:

a shapely hand of cloud / emerges from the crowd /of airy nothings that the wind allowed / to tumble over us all day /and points the way / towards its own decay / but not before / a final sunlight-shudder pours / away across our garden-floor

Come on then, Andrew, time for you to get off the pot and let the next Laureate have a shit. And as Carol Ann Duffy parks her backside and prepares to stink the place out, the real poetry scene thrives quite happily. For those who know where it's really at.

Ole' UV at Underground Voices

2009-05-01T08:17:00.004+01:00

My poem "Night Train" is up in the May issue of Underground Voices Magazine. UVM is an online and print publication that has published a few notables in its time, including one of my own favourites - and one of the more overlooked beat writers - Charles Plymell. A link to the site is in the list on the right here.

Also, while you are there take a look at the art of George Grie - it's fantastic!

3:AM Magazine

2009-04-30T07:15:00.003+01:00

Two poems - "Road Trip" and "Girl On The Underground" appear in 3:am Magazine:

http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/two-poems-uvray/

u.v.ray - Interviewed at The Beat.

2009-04-23T08:57:00.011+01:00

I recently did an interview for The Beat Literary Webzine.

http://the-beat.co.uk/interview-uv-ray/

The Terrible Twins

2009-04-19T12:16:00.009+01:00

This morning I typed "Vile Creature" into Google images and this picture of the poet John Cooper Clarke came up (Pictured left).
Of course, as you will all no doubt be aware, John Cooper Clarke is the alter-ego of Pam Ayers (pictured right). It's just a quick change of wigs and the donning of a pair of sunglasses between performances. However, the "poetry" itself follows the same format: that is, a depiction of puerile observations arranged in a series of plodding, predictable couplets that some people consider to be witty. I seriously believe these two to be one and the same person.

Just Another Emotional Suicide.

2009-04-18T06:57:00.002+01:00

According to a study by a professor at a university in Austin, Texas, being a poet is a high-risk occupation. Statistically speaking, more dangerous than being a fire-fighter or deep-sea diver.
Wikipedia currently has a list of 277 poets who committed suicide. The death rate is also higher than any other genre of the arts.

It was discovered, however, that non-suicidal poets tended to focus their work on external observation, whereas suicidal poets grounded their writing much more frequently on their internal psychological processes; using "I" far more often.

It is extremely rarely that I write myself into a poem. I am most often the detached observer. It is, therefore, by a process of logical conclusion that I've deduced I could jump off a bridge and I will not be killed.

The Beat Goes On!

2009-04-08T07:44:00.007+01:00

Latest News: "Angelina" appears in the April edition of The Beat Literary Webzine. Please visit the 'zine by clicking the link in the right hand column here. More of my work is also forthcoming in Underground Voices. Stay tuned for updates!

The Relentlessly Depressing Squares Have Taken Over.

2009-04-06T09:26:00.005+01:00

There is a great interview with independent film maker, author and owner of the Fortune Teller Press, Graham Bendel, at the always excellent 3:am Magazine. 3:am Magazine itself is worth bookmarking. Unarguably one of the most important literary & arts sites around at the moment.

Though they have yet to publish anything I myself have written! And it's not looking too promising that they ever will.

See this interview here:

http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/the-relentlessly-depressing-squares-have-taken-over/