Days Like These: An Alternative Guide to the Year in 366 Poems

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Each poem is inspired by a significant - often curious - event associated with that day: from Open an Umbrella Indoors Day to the day on which New York banned public flirting; from the launch of the Rubik's Cube to the first appearance of the phrase, 'the best thing since sliced bread'. Bilston's poems are often fun, but I think he's at his best when he adds some snark or political satire (rare in this collection) or comes up with odd rhymes and wordplay.

Queueing for an Ice Cream (6th June) – a fine example of Bilston’s autobiographical efforts, focusing on his grandad’s D-Day memories. The book starts on 1 January, but was published late October, and I'm starting on 9 November 2022, when I went to an event where Bilston read many of his poems and talked a little about himself. He did it with dry humour, as he mostly read humorous poems. However, the book includes at least one of his more political ones, which I reviewed a few months earlier: Refugees, HERE.I decided I needed to buy this title, and I'm glad I did. It's harder to find in the US than in Bilston's native England, so I got the ebook version.

November, Shakespeare's wedding anniversary. A possible clerical error in the paperwork inspired Marriage Vows for the Uncommitted. It starts, “ I pledge my undying love to you, / Insofar as it's possible to guarantee anything these days.” Days Like These is a triumph that I felt could be more triumphant but that is quite forgivable. I recommend it to fans of Bilston's verse and those who would like to read an amusing and/or thought-provoking poem every day of the coming year. November, Enid Blyton died. “ The Final Famous Five Books” tells a story by successive titles: “ Five Go Hang-Gliding Together / Four Attempt a Spot of Whitewater Rafting / Three Go to Guantanamo Bay / Two Experiment with Crystal Meth / One is a Good Boy, a Really Good Boy”.

Since then he has set himself the task of writing a poem a day for each day of the year. This is more flexible than it sounds - poems about the Ides of March, Halloween and Remembrance Day jostle next to poems about historical events both big and small - the Boston Tea Party, the birth of King Canute (title: ‘Not Reigning but Drowning’), the release of Abbey Road, and the day the first loaf of sliced bread was sold. December, Emperor Nero born. Roman history in verse, “ Julio-Claudian Clerihews”. For example, “ Augustus Caesar, / a formidable geezer, / stamped out civil wars and riots. / He loved a bit of pax and quiet.”. This collection seems to be designed to be read across any contemporary year, presumably day by day. There are poems here that are very much about COVID and Conservative government which I suspect will date it in years to come, but Days Like These still caters to all poetic tastes including cheeky couplets, familiar forms, reinterpreted song lyrics and personal free verse. While I didn't enjoy every poem he shares in this collection, I did appreciate Bilston's consistent sense of humour and eye for wordplay.