Issue 23: Alec Finlay
l’anima feroce
who wants a truce
who owes me the time I can never get back
who wants their dog back now
who wants every dog in the world back
now who wants a truce
the choice was taken away from me
just to be able to believe in what I fucking believe in
and who believes in me
no-one
one-two-three or fuck all
no-one can hide
no subway
where’s my fucking dog
no-one better breathe
or move a muscle
or they’re fucking dead
no-one ever again
if I don’t get what I want
my way or the fucking highway
who wants anything natural
man-made or in my fucking head
who controls nature
who controls demolition
who controls that fucking blue thing over there
who controls any machines
made by man nature anything
who tried to shut down Luton
who tried to shut down Milton Keynes
anyone working on the site at Fletchers Mews
who tried to shut down the world
now who wants a truce
who wants protection
you choose
is there anywhere safe in Milton Keynes
if you want safety
or the security of your children
who told me where my place would be
because I can’t remember
who wants to live again
who can tell me where the fuck’s my dog
you better stop making me make decisions
I can’t make
you better get under here right now
pull those gates away
and turn this round
you’ve all seen the film
you said no sides
you forced me to do something
and you’ve got to choose
the truth now any colour
black-and-white-unite two-tone
who doesn’t want to believe
any film I want to create
who wants to put this in a book
who wants to talk about suicide
where’s my freedom
I want the truth here right fucking now
if you take things from me I had no choice
who thinks they’re safe now
who thinks their kids and family are safe now
who is your security
who wants to play now
now who wants the truth
if you want stars to shine at night
where the fuck’s my dog lily
Alec Finlay (Scotland, 1966-) is a poet and artist whose work crosses over a range of media and forms. Much of his work considers how we as a culture, or cultures, relate to landscape and ecology, with a specific interest in place-awareness, hutopianism, and rewilding. Finlay established morning star publications in 1990. A retrospective of his publishing was held at The Poetry Centre, University of Tucson in 2018.
He has published over forty books and won six Scottish Design Awards, including two Grand Prix Awards (2001, 2015). Recent publications include a far-off land (2018), gathering (2018), th' fleety wud (2017) minnmouth (2017), A Variety of Cultures (2016), ebban an’ flowan (2015), and Global Oracle (2014).
Copyright © 2019 by An Other, all rights reserved. This text may be used and shared in accordance with the fair-use provisions of Copyright law. Archiving, redistribution, or republication of this text on other terms, in any medium, requires the notification of the journal and consent of the author.
