It’s been 84 years, but yeah, I do still write poetry sometimes. It’s the beginning of NaNoWriMo once again, we’ll see what happens this year. I’m trying not to put any pressure on myself and enjoy it!
today I talk to the dead. I pry my eyes open inward and remember the soil they went back to. I breathe in the prickly blue sky, weep with willows, play hide and seek with a meandering sun. I know the end will come, but not today. I clench my fists. I refuse to cry. they loved me and I love them, for all they’ve given me, for all they’ve taken from me. today I tell the dead about the ones who remain and how we don’t pray exactly, but sometimes I’ll leave my window open for a bit too long, till the clouds invite themselves in. I yell at them because their beauty offends me. the air in my lungs stings like your hand on mine decades ago. today I talk to the dead and as long as I do, they live.mandooks
Hammond’s Lament (Yesterday)
A tale of love and loss recounted by John Hammond, flamboyant creator of Jurassic Park. This is a Helpless Saps cover of The Beatles’ Yesterday.
Check out Xavier’s songs on Spotify. The art on Xavier’s right is the cover art for his EP “Non-breaking Space” by Abel (who also made our logo!). The art on my left is by Ophélie Lhuire.
We’re also working on new original song(s), and other covers. But we’re mostly busy watching 90’s blockbusters and making mechanical keyboards (I soldered electronic components today!).

A zine template
Hey guys, recently I made a 14-page zine with a single A3 page and I really liked the result. The cover and back-cover look really tidy and the page-through is quite easy.

I spent a long time making a template for it and I thought my fellow zine enthusiasts might want to make use of it! 😀
So here is the PDF version of the template, which you can use as you wish. You can print it as an A4, it works too (to make a very smol zine), but the format is better as an A3. Here is a video explaining how to fold and cut it.
I hope you’ll have fun with this! Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions, and please share the result of your experiments. 🙂
Metrophobia, a poetry zine
Presenting my first zine, Metrophobia.

This A6-format, 8-pages zine is made up of six original poems I wrote between 2018 and today. Ngl, all these poems have been published on the website, but some of them have been slightly reworked for the purpose of the zine, so it’s kiiiinda exclusive content in a way? :p
Anyway, it’s available on the Ko-fi shop for the price of a stamp if you want me to send a physical copy to you, or for 1€ for the PDF + a DYI guide on how to fold and cut the zine. You can also email me (contact info below) to order one if you’re not comfortable with Ko-fi. 🙂
The world is a nightmare right now, so why not indulge in the impulsive purchase of art made by independent creators to make yourself feel better?
(This ad was sponsored by coronavirus, the US elections, and too much coffee.)
before – studio version
Almost one year ago I wrote a poem which became a song, which started a band. Phew. Now Helpless Saps is finally releasing a (home) studio version of it. You can listen to it on Soundcloud and watch the lyrics video on Youtube.
Xavier’s EP Non-breaking Space is now on Spotify, and here’s his Patreon.

Projects-wise, as we’re reconfining, I’m gearing up for my 4th (or is it 5th?) Nanowrimo with brand new fiction projects, and I’m hoping to shake the dust off those writing muscles.
I’m also going to release a poetry zine pretty soon, probably next week or so. More details to come.
Hope everyone is staying safe and doing stuff that makes them happy.
PS: Thank you Meeni Levi for starting a cult around the Ben Aaronovitch books Rivers of London, which both Xavier and I are reading in the video.