Carl was not well known for his poetry but over the years had poetry published in Ambit, Frames, Iron, the Swansea Review, and a few small independent presses.
Guerilla Writing includes these poems and many more.
Guerrilla writing is the art of irregular war
the war of the flea, conducted against
previously unidentified targets
through the unsettling powers
of the word,
writing undertaken outside
recognised institutions
and especially without permission
by scribblers, scratchers, graphomaniacs
assorted quill drivers
and those who simply peck at keyboards
designed to discomfort
rather than conduct
a full frontal assault on reality
tackling themes and situations that might
otherwise go unnoticed
talking about things
not normally talked about
returning to pick at unhealed scabs
long forgotten awkward moments –
personal, political, historical -
to offer un-housed
not-quite novels, sort-of stories
almost poems, spoken words
that vanish on the air
off-the-wall graffiti
home-made cartoons
hand-drawn postcards
epics in indelible ink written
on bio-degradable toilet roll
haiku written in exhaust fumes
slices of bread with the story toasted in
like the image of the Virgin Mary
guerrilla writers come out of the walls
disguised as functional literates
make their hit
then fast-fade into the blur of
moving TV wallpaper
corporate banker-speak
all pervasive psycho-babble
and micro-management bollocks
before you’ve quite got the point
before you could start a discussion
before you even knew they had been there
and sometimes – the devious bastards –
they leave a poem
where they know someone will read it
before they realise what it is
but
not
always
so don’t get into the habit
of expecting the unexpected
with guerrilla writers
you just never know