Good day to you, poets. I’m Benny Scraps. The name was inspired by Paul McCartney’s alter ego name “Billy Shears”. (Benny Scraps…Billy Shears…sounds like a bunch of “BS” either way, right?) Calling myself “Benjamin” Scraps as a form of self-deprecation. My writing is always poetry (no good at prose…tends to read more like a sports article than poetic expression when I write prose)….mostly autobiographical non-fiction stories in free poetry format, concentrated into specific scraps of expression & meaning – philosophy, psychology, prophecy, Gnosticism, spirituality, conspiracy theories, Bible quotes, organized crime, drug addiction, dark humor, deliberate bad advice, malapropisms, poking fun at the politics & popular culture of our dystopian postmodern West and the magickal nature that hides inside the daily grind, the banality of real evil and other forms of esoterica are among the many things that are all cavorting & crowding around in my wheelhouse, combining into a tapestry of interconnected pieces.

There exists no impetus in me to be “understood”. I’m a lone wanderer who’s been on his own for a long time, experienced a lot of isolation and thus not always the best collaborator, but I’ve an overall friendly demeanor and supportive whenever possible. I work in waste management on weekdays and take care of my elderly mother with UTI’s and occasional dementia every evening and weekend, dedicating at least one hour/day for calisthenics & other training. I feed ferals, rescue wildlife, and engage in other forms of conservation (technically part of my job) so time for my own writing and commentary is few & far between nowadays due to the steady stream of distractions, but I am trying my best. I work outdoors almost every day and for that privilege am extremely grateful, which is a theme I try to mention within my writing.

Somewhat a lifelong “poetaster”, my tapestry of poems might be more “interesting” than “good”, and I am perfectly happy with that arrangement, so I do not seek attention or validation and am actually quite uncomfortable with too much of either. A wise poet once said to me: “write to express, never to impress”, and that advice stuck. I am not overly ambitious lol and do not intend to publish or be remembered. I think FlatDaddy said it best with the Popeye quote below.

There is a possibility than I am somewhat ‘neurodivergent’. I may not personally say “thank you” to each comment you grace me with but will eventually endeavor to seek you out and provide you with the same. I will never reject a friend request here. You’ll have to work very hard to offend me.

Stars Rite has seen an influx of amazing talent in recent weeks and hopefully that’s a trend that will continue. Allow me to extend this laurel….and hardy handshake to all the new poets & writers at Stars Rite. Welcome! Tell us something about yerselves. Or be murky & mysterious. I’ll respect your game either way, poet.