Billy's Rain

A collection of poems devoted to the vicissitudes of a finished love affair-its ambivalences and duplicities, hidden depths and emotional pitfalls.

I narrowed it down to this- her voice on the phone, its cheerful 'Hello, how are you? Can you come out to play?' I wrapped her choking laugh in layers of indifference. I couldn't get rid of her mouth.

I narrowed it down once more- a look on her face, one arm across my neck. As a final test I allowed her to speak my name. That was no good at all. That was worse than useless. -"Useless"

The poems in Billy's Rain chart the course of a love affair that has ended. Its complications, evasions, secret joys, and emotional pitfalls are explored with the subtlety and irony that have long been distinguishing characteristics of Hugo Williams's powerful work.

Hugo Williams lives in London, England.