‘The Little Book of Suicide: 77 Reasons to Kill Yourself. In Verse.’
From the death of a distraught puppy owner, to the demise of a depressed cat lover, this collection of short poems shines a comic light on the dark subject of suicide in all its randomness and variety, its tragedy and its sometimes accidental farce…
One such poem included in the book is about the frustrations of being an angler.
BIG ONE
You’ve fished in lakes and rivers.
You’ve reeled in salmon and pike.
You’ve captured perch and carp
And trundled home upon your bike.
You’ve often had a tale to tell
About the one that got away.
It was always bigger than the rest
Or at least that’s what you’d say.
But today you almost did catch
An amazing, real-life beast.
Yet no-one believes a word of it
Until your voice has almost ceased.
Outraged, you get on your bike again
And cycle to the deepest lake.
You plunge in with your waders on –
Your end will be no fishy fake.
Background story:
The book is dedicated to the author’s brother Philip, a schizophrenic who killed himself aged 23 almost 20 years ago. The author, David Kavanagh, now 48, said: ‘I decided to have a poke at suicide, make fun of it, as a way of getting even with it. It took my brother’s life and I have never forgiven it.
‘The poems are meant to be entertaining, even amusing. But they are underscored by the reality of what suicide is really like to those left behind.’
Product Description:
Price: £4.99 UK/$7.99 US
ISBN 978-0-9548567-2-4
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Reviewers note
It is a dark subject to cover in a strangely humorous way. As poetry, it is pretty simplistic stuff and the author is unlikely to achieve the position of the Queen’s Poet Lauriat. However, I can see how writing this collection will have somehow put some closure on his own sad loss.
For myself, I couldn’t find it that amusing, but that may be because the subject to a large extent is personal. Not that the subject of suicide is entirely taboo, I’ve seen some good cartoons from Larson, illustrator of The Far Side, and I think they’re hilarious.
The best quote I have ever heard on the subject of suicide came on a TV talk programme and from no less than a Catholic priest who said ‘Suicide is a long term solution to a short term problem.’ just in case you are considering it.
COMPETITION –
I have the review copy to give away in a little competition. All you have to do is, in the attached forum thread, post what in your mind is the funniest way to end it all. It can be as absurd as you like, you can include comments from lookers on or maybe tell a good joke about suicide. Just to warm you up, this describes a scene from Only Fools and Horses (with apologies to John Sullivan).
Delboy – “Well, it’s like Trigger’s cousin, Cyril. He was deep in debt, the council were thinking of throwing him out of his house and his wife was going to leave him. He drove to Beachy Head, he stopped just yards from the edge and threatened to drive over.”
Trigger – “People pleaded with him not to do it and in the end they held a whip round to pay off his debt.”
Rodney – “Who was it chipped in?”
Delboy – “All the passengers on his bus.”
(Apologies if the script isn’t exactly like that, but you get the picture.)
Winner of the competition is Kevin Perkins for trying at least and putting some feeling into it.
