A FORMER punk from West Belfast has published a collection of his poetry and flash fiction.

Paul Marauder from the Suffolk Road was the guitarist with punk band The Parasites who featured in the seminal 1978 film Shell Shock Rock about the emerging punk scene in the city.

His first book was entitled How To Transform Time-wasting and Daydreaming Into Art, which was a quote from his form teacher at La Salle, which he wrote on Paul's final school report. His new book, More Tales About Life, Love and Death has now been published and features his latest poems and short stories.

“My style is non-style,” he says, “and I’m inspired by writers such as Charles Bukowski, Bobby Sands, Dylan Thomas, Shane McGowan and Mark E Smith.”

Paul draws on his punk influences for the inspiration of Night Of The Damned, as he listens to records from his youth into the drunken early hours

“I hear Curtain Call ending                                                                                             Then the needle chattering in the dead wax.”

The writer finds solace in the embrace of nature in several poems and stories. However, there are disturbing memories and dreams of childhood. As the title of the book suggests, the call of death lingers. There is pain in these pages, but it is also rich in sarcasm.

"At home that night I packed a small rucksack with some clothes, a penknife and the latest Dandy comic. I didn't take any food because there never was any."

Stand out stories include Wild Orchids, Junk & Sickos about an abused child, and The Sentinel about a teenage boy leaving the Fianna behind when he discovers pop music.

“The morning light peeping through my bedroom’s paisley-coloured curtains and the birds singing in the trees woke me from my slumber. And I swear to gawd those birds singing in the trees were singing the Bowie song Starman. It wasn’t long after this that I realised that my days as an Irish rebel were numbered.”

Paul’s punk ethos runs large throughout this small collection, even down to the accompanying sketches and drawings. He dedicates the book to the people of Gaza.

More Tales About Life, Love and Death is available on Amazon, Kindle and paperback.