ON THE EDGE OF THE ASYLUM by David Hay
This collection has been a long time in the making and we are delighted to have acquired first rights to David Hay’s debut collection.
On the Edge of the Asylum is a raw, deeply personal account of what it is like to experience a breakdown in the aftermath of physical and emotional trauma.
When I first received the manuscript which would become On The Edge of the Asylum, I was struck by its directness. Historically such writing is coined ‘confessional’, which I personally find reductive of what is immensely brave and honest testimony to a life lived in the face of devastating challenges.
Time spent in a psychiatric ward, facing the dark reality of an unreliable sense of self, and coming to terms with complex and fragile familial connections, makes this collection deeply visceral and at times, feral, in its depiction of self-perception, at its most fractured. David wonders why I call him brave in writing this body of work and sharing it with the world; I know readers will share my sentiment, regardless of their personal feelings, when immersed in the uncommon reality of his world.
David Hay is an extraordinary young man and a fearless poet. On The Edge of the Asylum is an important body of work as it unashamedly invites us into his private world in staring down facets of mental illness, that, in most cases, is nothing less than an existential threat. He does so with unrelenting love, gratitude and grace.
“David Hay is the epitome of talent hidden within the diamond. There is plenty of sunlight and shine and instead of admiration, you receive the tiny hammers picking away at the excellence. Just breathe in the images and damn, maybe, you won’t get surprised by the cuts along the way. David Hay is a true gem.”
David. L. O’Nan. Editor of Fevers of the Mind Poetry.
A Note from David Hay . . .
On the Edge of the Asylum encompasses eight years’ worth of poetry. It explores family,mental health, grief, love, god and the absurdity of life. Growing up, I wasn’t avid reader. I was around seventeen when I discovered how transformative writing could be, on discovering Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge during college. Family Happiness by Tolstoy (referenced in the film, Into the Wild, changed my life, and opened me uo to the beauty of life, when I needed it most.
The Romantics, particularly Keats and Shelley were my first true poetic obsessions. this was followed by Dylan Thomas and Sylvia Plath, through whose work, I was introduced to many American and British poets – particularly those of, or inspired by ‘confessional poets’. By chance I came across an anthology entitled Pinholes in the Night by Raúl Zurita, oepneing a whole canon of writers who may have been forever hidden from me. It’s no exaggeration to say that I feel elated, vitalised and indebted to all these poets: Alejandra Pizanik, Vicente Huidobro, Pablo de Rokha, Pablo Neruda, Raúl Zurita and César Vallejo. They all pushed my poetry to greater imaginative heights and emotional depths. This collection is as straightforward as it is complex. It contains my life, but like all creations, it has a life of its own. Not every speaker is me, but every speaker contains a piece of me. None of my work would be possible without the loved ones in my life; from my grandparents, to my mum and dad, my girlfriend and good friends, who have stayed by my side and lastly, my niece, who gives me faith in the future.
“A heavyweight collection that distills the raw essence of human suffering into each and every line. On the Edge of the Asylum exposes the frailty within which we are all enveloped by; our fractured parental relationships, our mutated sense of self, our chaotic multitudes. Utilising a broad arsenal of poetic forms, Hay is a poet balancing life and death, in each hand, crumbling both into bruised detritus for the worms to gorge themselves upon. This is poetry for anyone who has tasted the madness of what it is to be alive.”
Stuart McPhearson (End Ceremonies, 2023, Broken Sleep Books)
EXCERPT
They Shot the Dove that Flew
They shot the dove that flew
with a homeless man's prayer,
peeled the blue roots from his wrists,
then broke their fists on his skull
before licking his tears with snake-eyed grins.
Spreading scale-black wings, they shut out the sun
whilst mocking the bird's joyous songs
drowning out his cries.
Then clasping his dirt-crust mouth open,
they poured their festered wounds
down the arch of his tongue.
His mother's bones broke like lightning in his eyes,
warnings to his deep-sea tides
puled by the moon in his breast.
His last breath tore the stars in two,
and shattered the silence
with thoughts never heard.
DAVID HAY
Doctor Lazarus, a narrative poem was David’s first published piece. Since then, his work has appeared in numerous online journals. He has a collaborative piece, Amor Novus / A Spontaneous Prayer published with Soyos Books, Saxon Suites by Back Room Poetry. His novel ” How High the Moon” is forthcoming from Anxiety Press.
Ballerini Book Press © All Rights Reserved 2020 -2023