Introduction to Gray Nicholls's book "The Colour of Nothing"

(NB. I believe this book is due out soon and I was asked by Gray to write this a brief forward to his second poetry book ‘The Colour of Nothing’ which I know has taken him close to 9 years to write)

In the very relationship between poet and their work, perhaps it is never about finishing or abandoning it, but rather the very act of becoming one with your words, the very essence of your words no matter how long it takes you to complete a piece not matter whether it takes you half a hour or six years.

Writing a poem isn’t merely a creation external to oneself; it's an entity that infiltrates the very fabric of our being, permeating through the bloodstream, nestling within the cells, and finding repose like a cherished memory, or the weighty embrace of fog.

I wrote my first poem at ten, a very similar journey to what I know my friend Gray has undertaken also, with his first book coming out back in 2015 ‘Waiting for Nancy’ which was a Noirish story of a relationship between a man and a woman whose friendship undertook all kinds of strange twists and turns and after that, it seemed like that was it for Gray for years until he got in contact about eighteen months ago with the title poem of this collection. 

I think I was amazed as he was truth be told by that piece and the pieces that followed eschew neat narratives not too similar to the jump I made between my first two poetry books ‘Return to Kemptown’ and ‘The End of Summer’, opting to take his time to unfilter what comes next, the quest for liberation, the quest for meaning, the very essence of everything you thought you knew until you reach the end of the piece no matter how long it took. 

It took me 5 years to write the follow-up to ‘Return to Kemptown’ writing and disregarding over 100 poems before coming up with the running order that led the book in the direction it did and while I don’t know how many poems Gray likely rejected or disregarded in the creation of this book, I don’t dare say like me he has learnt something from this book, in in the unending journey of self-discovery. And in that perpetual becoming, in that ceaseless exploration, lies the essence of poetry itself – an ever-evolving expression of the human spirit.

I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.

Andy N