The Ne'er Do Well Waltz

"Dave is a poet of the people as a selection from the first poem shows: "I found poetry/in the package/ goods store" In the mouths of whores, talking with day laborers, truck drivers on loading docks... There is nothing pretentious or fancy here, but way gritty, as befitting someone who has been in the gutter and hasn't strayed too far since." -Alan Catlin in MISFIT, 2021 "Cruel and savage doggerel in the service of a total nihilism. Crass and vile poems but, don't get me...
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"Dave is a poet of the people as a selection from the first poem shows: "I found poetry/in the package/ goods store" In the mouths of whores, talking with day laborers, truck drivers on loading docks... There is nothing pretentious or fancy here, but way gritty, as befitting someone who has been in the gutter and hasn't strayed too far since." -Alan Catlin in MISFIT, 2021

"Cruel and savage doggerel in the service of a total nihilism. Crass and vile poems but, don't get me wrong, I like Roskos' attitude. No pretty poesy here but rank lines and revolting notions. No! Not for the finely wrought M.F.A. set. It's totally genuine, raw and dirty, filth running over the edge of the toilet, haphazard litter, everything in a tatter, desperation and hopelessness, poverty to the nth degree, slop, dirty clothing. You can read this screed in one sitting but the sensation of it will last for days on end. Just a few examples to whet your appetite: "I stood on the river bank/ and pissed on the moon's reflection." Or "He breaks the air with farts of fire/ dances off rooftops, on telephone wires/ magician of madness, orgasm sadness...." Or "a single mattress/ on a paint splattered floor/ cigarette butts/ and the bitten off corners of condom wrappers/ I followed a constellation/ up the crack of her ass." Strong stuff and not for sissy types. You have been warned."
-Arnold Skemer, in ZYX, 2017