After many years of writing poetry, a few magazine submissions with positive feedback and many more rejection slips from publishers, I decided to enrol in a local creative writing class in Clwb-y-Bont, Pontypridd. After encouragement from the tutor, I decided to self-publish this collection to see what would happen.
‘Layer Cake’ was my first book, with half the poems coming from my old stuff, and the other half from the new. The poems in this initial collection spanned twenty-four years, and the subject matter quite varied.
Published in March 2009 by Ponty Press the book was well received, sold a few copies and earned great praise from several well-respected writers. I’ve edited the poems slightly but certainly not rewritten. Although simple in their construction, I feel there is a lot in there the deeper you dig. I hope you agree.
To buy a copy of the latest edition – paperback or e-book from Amazon.
Sample poems:
Miners Dog
High home summer hill
Straining, sucking, sitting
Staring, stopped and stick-
A pit-prop tight and gripped.
The trees across the valley
Much higher than he can go now.
I pant to reassure him
In time with his withered eyes.
His tongue, tombed gritty green
He’s faithful, though he’s fading
Bones in death-grey jumper
Where will he lead me next?
Tenerife Club Singer
Alone at the bar
Two packs of cigarettes
Are stacked like long-lost friends
The club singer sits alone
Constant in his loneliness
As transit tourists chat
For two weeks at a time
His world, their world, complete
Alone he sits and smokes
Smokes himself to death
Only home for the NHS
Bald ‘neath his cowboy hat
Human Nature
“Hey man!”
grated the Californian
“You left your Howl behind”
“Wow!”
“Did you hear that?” said Paulie
“Only in this city, man,
and leave it to me,
I’ll get the man to sign it, yeh,
and if you don’t hear from me
let me know and ask
me to send the fuckin’ book”
I left my friend a note.
My best friend in half an hour.
“Send me the fuckin’ book, man!”
I wrote.
He laughed.
Now I wait in the rain in a land devoid
of oranges
for the postman.
Afternoon Shift
The lino shiny dead
cramped crocodile
choked hand
bread and dripping
at the cupboard towers
arthritic apron
dogs at feet
her petal splits
cuts like crusts
she knows you know
sliced chestnut
men at work
the knock on wood
saltwater drips on fur
Reviews:
‘It’s not often that a collection of poems inspires and uplifts you. It’s something that happens as rarely as a good British summer, in fact. But Layer Cake by Dave Lewis is just as unusual and welcome. In the stuffy world that poetry can be, this collection really is a breath of fresh air. This collection of unique and different poems comes from the heart, with subjects as diverse as Boats and Stevie Nicks! Each poem reads like a story and conjures an image in your mind, from the highly sensual evocations in Grinding Down to the succinct and to-the-point Portrait of Churchill. Dave Lewis is obviously well-travelled and his poems Africa and Kenya take you to these places without having to endure Gatwick! But closer to home, Dave also creates poignant images of his home country with well-crafted gems like Pen-y-Fan and Y Bont. All in all, this is an interesting and entertaining collection which is well worth reading.’ – Amanda Weeks
‘This is a magical little book which shows us there are still great poets living in Wales. Layer Cake is honest and moving, yet simply written and easy to understand. A writer who has the ability to create heart-wrenching images of everyday life with the minimum of fuss.’ – Amazon Customer