Boy in Various Poses, a debut collection of poems from Lewis Buxton, explores all the different types of boy you can be - tender, awful, thoughtful, vulnerable. Here, a maelstrom of mental health, male bodies, and sexuality is laid bear with wit and curiosity, and the complexity and multiplicity of gender itself is revealed.
The boy in question is often shapeshifting, slippery, unreliable, close yet never quite in focus, moving too fast to pause and take a breath - yet Buxton studies these boys, their bodies and behaviours, with a disarming intimacy and precision. These poems are provocative, nuanced and often laugh-out-loud funny, shining with a naked, shameless brilliance.
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I dress like my idea of a boy: creased trousers & pea coats & good shoes, things the world expects of me. SEVENLING
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(@NineArchesPress, 20 May 2021, ebook, 72 pages, borrowed from @natpoetrylib via @OverDriveInc)
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I really enjoyed Boy in Various Poses, a debut and can't wait to see what the poet comes up with next. These poems are undoubtedly personal, focusing on sexuality, identity and growing up through the lens of mental health and body image. The poems are tender, troubling at times, funny at times and blew me away. I could have written similar poems myself when I was a teenager freaking out about being gay so these poems spoke to me. I loved this collection.
