OCTOBER, WITH TEARS

First Printed 1993
by the Author


All rights reserved

(c) Benjamin Barrier

Benjamin Barrier is hereby identified as author of this work in
accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.





This book is dedicated to William Scott










Introduction and Acknowledgements

This collection of poems has been distilled from my journal from the period 1985 to 1993. This journal has no fixed chronology, so I have indicated the place and time of the poem where I am reasonably certain, or where I have made explicit references in or near the poem. The six sections correspond to the folders I found whilst compiling this work; nothing else is implied by this arrangement.

For many years, I felt uncomfortable reading these poems, especially the earlier ones before 1989. Now I read their teenage angst, depression and bathos with some affection and detachment. Much of the earlier stuff is not good, but it is honest and, I hope, illustrative of a young man very much out of sorts with the world. If I were reading this collection for the first time, I would start with the better poems at the end and work forwards.

The title of this collection is from a single, morose entry into my journal in 1986; "I'll remember October, with tears, probably."

I wish to thank all the people who gave me cause to write these poems for all sorts of reasons,good and bad. I dedicate this collection to Billy Scott for giving me the courage and confidence to print these poems.

Benjamin Barrier
Cambridge, August 1993