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You Took the Last Bus Home
You Took the Last Bus Home is the first and long-awaited collection of ingeniously hilarious and surprisingly touching poems from Brian Bilston, the mysterious ‘Poet Laureate of Twitter’.
With endless wit, imaginative wordplay and underlying heartache, he offers profound insights into modern life, exploring themes as diverse as love, death, the inestimable value of a mobile phone charger, the unbearable torment of forgetting to put the rubbish out, and the improbable nuances of the English language.
Constantly experimenting with literary form, Bilston’s words have been known to float off the page, take the shape of the subjects they explore, and reflect our contemporary world in the form of Excel spreadsheets, Venn diagrams and Scrabble tiles.
This irresistibly charming collection of his best-loved poems will make you question the very essence of the human condition in the twenty-first century.
YOU TOOK THE LAST BUS HOME
you took
the last bus home
don’t know how
you got it through the door
you’re always doing amazing stuff
like the time
when you caught that train
With endless wit, imaginative wordplay and underlying heartache, he offers profound insights into modern life, exploring themes as diverse as love, death, the inestimable value of a mobile phone charger, the unbearable torment of forgetting to put the rubbish out, and the improbable nuances of the English language.
Constantly experimenting with literary form, Bilston’s words have been known to float off the page, take the shape of the subjects they explore, and reflect our contemporary world in the form of Excel spreadsheets, Venn diagrams and Scrabble tiles.
This irresistibly charming collection of his best-loved poems will make you question the very essence of the human condition in the twenty-first century.
YOU TOOK THE LAST BUS HOME
you took
the last bus home
don’t know how
you got it through the door
you’re always doing amazing stuff
like the time
when you caught that train
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2016
160 people are currently reading
1162 people want to read
About the author
Brian Bilston
17 books155 followersBrian Bilston is a poet whose work has been shared widely on social media over the last few years. He has been described as the 'unofficial Poet Laureate of Twitter'.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews
September 2, 2017
Beautifully crafted book by a poet who appears to be as amused by the world as he is amusing. Dubbed the poet laureate of twitter he achieved a certain level of prominence with a poem about asylum seekers ('Refugees') that needs to be read backwards as well as forwards, indicative of an interest in words and in form that runs throughout the book. Two of my favourite poems are on language 'Roget's Thesaurus' and grammar 'The Importance of the Oxford Comma'. The former is also a favourite of my eldest daughter. Other poems take a self-deprecating approach to relationships, or target either the pomposities of modern corporate culture or the inanities of mobile technology. Humane, intelligent and very funny.
February 28, 2020
I'm not much of a poetry reader but, having been introduced to the collection via the poem 'Refugees' as shown to our BookChat Group by a poetry-loving member, I decided it was worth the cost of the book just to have that one poem - only to find that there are many other great poems in the collection, most on the light-hearted and amusing side of things. Haven't found myself laughing out loud so much when reading a book for a long time! Certainly a keeper for me as I can see myself dipping back into it regularly just for a giggle!! Well done, Brian - 10/10.
December 12, 2016
Slight is a word that comes to mind,
with witty and clever and funny.
Though you'll laugh much more if, like me,
you enjoy your humour punny.
with witty and clever and funny.
Though you'll laugh much more if, like me,
you enjoy your humour punny.
October 8, 2020
Brian Bilston is…
Very English.
Probably my age as he mentions Morrissey a few times.
Probably inclined to write about Woolsworth if it was still around (he has a Poundland poem instead.)
Not into the Daily Mail.
Not into Jeremy Clarkson, Piers Morgan and Katie Hopkins.
Into spreadsheets, post-it notes, anagrams, forms and lists.
Into the sound of lorries and ice cream vans.
Probably an ex-stand up comedian.
Twitter’s poet laureate.
Scribbling away on public transport as you read this.
Like that mate of yours that enjoys anecdotes over a pint.
A nightmare to translate into other languages as his poems are so very English.
Well attuned to the plight of refugees.
A good gift for that mate of yours that’s scared of poetry.
Good at poking fun at modern day life in Britain.
Self-deprecating.
Perhaps a pseudonym or even a collective.
Enamoured of punch lines.
Well-versed on daytime telly.
Better than me at making listed items rhyme.
Very English.
Probably my age as he mentions Morrissey a few times.
Probably inclined to write about Woolsworth if it was still around (he has a Poundland poem instead.)
Not into the Daily Mail.
Not into Jeremy Clarkson, Piers Morgan and Katie Hopkins.
Into spreadsheets, post-it notes, anagrams, forms and lists.
Into the sound of lorries and ice cream vans.
Probably an ex-stand up comedian.
Twitter’s poet laureate.
Scribbling away on public transport as you read this.
Like that mate of yours that enjoys anecdotes over a pint.
A nightmare to translate into other languages as his poems are so very English.
Well attuned to the plight of refugees.
A good gift for that mate of yours that’s scared of poetry.
Good at poking fun at modern day life in Britain.
Self-deprecating.
Perhaps a pseudonym or even a collective.
Enamoured of punch lines.
Well-versed on daytime telly.
Better than me at making listed items rhyme.
March 29, 2023
This is the only collection of poems which I've ever enjoyed reading
March 20, 2020
I want to put my review in verse,
Although that thought is quite perverse.
My poetry skills are not the best,
As anyone would soon attest.
Bilston's stanzas are clever and witty,
More erudite than the average ditty.
My opinion? (And my wife agreed it.)
Just find a copy. Buy it. Read it!
The only time I have bought and read a book of poetry of my own free will!
You may well have seen his poems shared on Facebook and Instagram, and if you haven't then you really ought to find and subscribe. Often topical, always entertaining. This book is a nice compilation of his work.
Although that thought is quite perverse.
My poetry skills are not the best,
As anyone would soon attest.
Bilston's stanzas are clever and witty,
More erudite than the average ditty.
My opinion? (And my wife agreed it.)
Just find a copy. Buy it. Read it!
The only time I have bought and read a book of poetry of my own free will!
You may well have seen his poems shared on Facebook and Instagram, and if you haven't then you really ought to find and subscribe. Often topical, always entertaining. This book is a nice compilation of his work.
July 3, 2023
Made me genuinely laugh out loud several times. Enormously creative and often poignant, too. The poem "Refugees" is a work of genius.
December 30, 2021
I've seen the shorter poems of Brian Bilston appear on my Facebook wall and enjoyed them. Now that I've picked up You Took the Last Bus Home, I can safely say that he is one of my favourite modern poets.
Bilston has a sense of humour and wordplay much like my own. Focusing on everyday things like public transport, the books you find in holiday cottages and the Daily Mail, he always finds something wonderfully cheeky to say that is also right on the money. He genuinely seems like a poet who always keeps a pen and paper handy in case of inspiration, which he finds everywhere.
Not only this, I admire how he plays with other forms for poetry. This ranges from the orderly Excel spreadsheet to the more tactile Scrabble tile formation. Some of his verse is keen on smaller wordplay such as anagram and palindrome which I found delightful if not quite as nourishing as the longer verse.
You Took the Last Bus Home is a poetry collection for the everyman and I'm glad it's reached far and wide via social media. Say what you will about Facebook and Twitter, they remain useful promotional tools for honest talent. I recommend You Took the Last Bus Home to readers who like their verse light and fun but also clever in its subtlety.
Notable Poems
• At the Intersection – a crafty use of the Venn Diagram to demonstrate a tired relationship.
• Bonfire 451 – a gratifying poem about books that you see everywhere but would never read.
• Eggbasket – a short but beautiful breakdown of a time-worn adage and how it doesn’t work.
Bilston has a sense of humour and wordplay much like my own. Focusing on everyday things like public transport, the books you find in holiday cottages and the Daily Mail, he always finds something wonderfully cheeky to say that is also right on the money. He genuinely seems like a poet who always keeps a pen and paper handy in case of inspiration, which he finds everywhere.
Not only this, I admire how he plays with other forms for poetry. This ranges from the orderly Excel spreadsheet to the more tactile Scrabble tile formation. Some of his verse is keen on smaller wordplay such as anagram and palindrome which I found delightful if not quite as nourishing as the longer verse.
You Took the Last Bus Home is a poetry collection for the everyman and I'm glad it's reached far and wide via social media. Say what you will about Facebook and Twitter, they remain useful promotional tools for honest talent. I recommend You Took the Last Bus Home to readers who like their verse light and fun but also clever in its subtlety.
Notable Poems
• At the Intersection – a crafty use of the Venn Diagram to demonstrate a tired relationship.
• Bonfire 451 – a gratifying poem about books that you see everywhere but would never read.
• Eggbasket – a short but beautiful breakdown of a time-worn adage and how it doesn’t work.
January 4, 2020
Somewhere Larkin says that novelists depend on the exotic, newness, fresh scenes; poets are more committed to the everyday. That was simple-minded, of course - just think of Yeats and his fairy stories, or Milton and his divine battle royal. What sank Bilston’s first novel (about a fictionalised yet somehow duller version of himself) quickens his poems. That has drawn snobbish reviews from some (‘centrist drab’ - Guardian).
All the more fool them.
It says much about publishing in the U.K. that Bilston had to build up a presence on Twitter before seeing a book of his in print - and even then from the kind of publisher that relies on subscribers (dutifully named at the back of the book). Why? You don’t need a degree to follow what he’s saying; the poems are witty. They aren’t afraid of conviction.
There are a few duds in the collection (‘Carpe DMs’, ‘The Explosion’ ‘The Heebie Bee Gees’), mostly because the author falls over arse over tit in search of a rhyme (‘futilitarianism’ ‘extincto’ etc.) The intent is to try and laugh the whole business off, like a bush-league Ogden Nash. The result is more like the guy leaving a party alone saying, ‘what back here tomorrow?’ to the empty doorway.
Oddly for ‘the poet laureate of Twitter’, his best poems aren’t haikus or limericks. The most successful ones are about a page in length, playing out a conceit to wonderful effect. That is my response to ‘Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?’, ‘Bonfire 451’, ‘Clarkson Apologist’, ‘How Much I Dislike the Daily Mail’, ‘Book Group’, ‘Envy Not the Rich Man for I, Though Poor...’ and ‘The Importance of the Oxford Comma’:
‘There were the investment bankers, the robbers and thieves,
As well as the politicians, the greedy and venereally diseased.
There were the footballers, clowns and less mentally able,
Alongside the poets, unemployed and emotionally unstable.’
Verse is what Bilston should be doing. I’d like to see him tackle something longer, something perhaps less pre-cooked for Twitter. If he does, Wendy Cope can pass the torch straight to him.
All the more fool them.
It says much about publishing in the U.K. that Bilston had to build up a presence on Twitter before seeing a book of his in print - and even then from the kind of publisher that relies on subscribers (dutifully named at the back of the book). Why? You don’t need a degree to follow what he’s saying; the poems are witty. They aren’t afraid of conviction.
There are a few duds in the collection (‘Carpe DMs’, ‘The Explosion’ ‘The Heebie Bee Gees’), mostly because the author falls over arse over tit in search of a rhyme (‘futilitarianism’ ‘extincto’ etc.) The intent is to try and laugh the whole business off, like a bush-league Ogden Nash. The result is more like the guy leaving a party alone saying, ‘what back here tomorrow?’ to the empty doorway.
Oddly for ‘the poet laureate of Twitter’, his best poems aren’t haikus or limericks. The most successful ones are about a page in length, playing out a conceit to wonderful effect. That is my response to ‘Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?’, ‘Bonfire 451’, ‘Clarkson Apologist’, ‘How Much I Dislike the Daily Mail’, ‘Book Group’, ‘Envy Not the Rich Man for I, Though Poor...’ and ‘The Importance of the Oxford Comma’:
‘There were the investment bankers, the robbers and thieves,
As well as the politicians, the greedy and venereally diseased.
There were the footballers, clowns and less mentally able,
Alongside the poets, unemployed and emotionally unstable.’
Verse is what Bilston should be doing. I’d like to see him tackle something longer, something perhaps less pre-cooked for Twitter. If he does, Wendy Cope can pass the torch straight to him.
December 23, 2018
I heard about this first on the Backlisted podcast which is produced by the people who work at Unbound who published this collection. There are many poems here that seem designed to tickle my particular fancy with puns and visual gags and some delicious bon mot-erie.
There are also a couple of poems that don't completely work, but they whizz by and there's always another great gag just over the page. I get that no one really "knows" who Brian Bilston is, but I'm just going to go on record and say that I think he's Mat Osman.
There are also a couple of poems that don't completely work, but they whizz by and there's always another great gag just over the page. I get that no one really "knows" who Brian Bilston is, but I'm just going to go on record and say that I think he's Mat Osman.
March 25, 2020
This is a time when I can't focus on novels - thank god for poetry.
December 26, 2022
3.5 rounded up because I miss his poems on Twitter, having quit the latter the day of Musk’s acquisition.
September 7, 2024
Brilliant book of poetry - some very funny - all clever and different in a good way.
January 14, 2023
I've long been a fan of Brian's poetry posted on his social media and wasn't sure if it was worth getting a book as surely I'd read all his poems before? I'm glad I did as there was loads of material I'd not read before, and seeing my old favourites popping up was actually really fun.
August 21, 2024
Comedic, idiosyncratic, clever. Appeals to a large audience and I suspect especially people who do not tend to like classically accepted poetry styles/themes. A few were quite clever, but ultimately, not my cup of tea.
September 1, 2022
Fun collection
April 26, 2023
you took
the last bus home
don't know how
you got it through the door
you're always doing amazing stuff
like the time
you caught that train
the last bus home
don't know how
you got it through the door
you're always doing amazing stuff
like the time
you caught that train
March 16, 2024
I’m typically not into poetry but this is divine.
November 15, 2025
Smiles on every page
January 2, 2019
Brian Bilston's poetry is clever, funny and entertaining as he works in all kinds of subtle (and not-so-subtle) references and jokes. He often takes you by surprise, and I would very much recommend this book.
January 30, 2019
Clever, imaginative, and humorous.
January 16, 2023
Dnf. Disappointed.
February 6, 2022
Such a fun book. I loved it!
December 3, 2023
One of those books to dip into, read a few, and then dip out of. He has a great way with words and phrases, and often turns something right on its' head. See “Anthem for doomed Ruth” or “Book group”, as two great examples. His observations are bang on, in many cases, and often quite funny. One of my favourite? The Crocs of the matter.
July 25, 2022
Massively enjoyed these poems. Loved the creative word play and spattering of humour across both serious and silly topics. I’ll be keeping this book handy to dip back in.
December 15, 2018
Ever so clever. So many made me laugh out loud (which is a rare thing for me whilst reading), many more amused me just by the brillance of word play, and one made me tearful.
October 20, 2016
This is a poetry book unlike any other contemporary poetry book you will read. I first came across Brian Bilston's poems on Twitter and he has been referred to as the 'Poet Laureate of Twitter'.
Bilston is a master of pithy wordplay and the supreme commander of the pun (my personal favourite is 'Robert Frost's Netflix Choice'). Many of the poems made me laugh out loud. He has much to say on the perils contemporary life: autocorrect, procrastinating on Twitter, holiday cottages with no wifi, delivery charges for internet shopping, Black Friday and the unreasonableness of someone wanting to borrow your mobile phone charger. The poems are sometimes Excel spreadsheets, flow charts and scrabble boards. Bilson's loathing for The Daily Mail and Jeremy Clarkson is a frequent theme. He also has some poignant observations: like 'At the Intersection' a moving venn diagram poem on the ways we misunderstand each other, and 'Chore Play' - the awkward juxtaposition of seduction with the boring minutiae of married life.
Brian Bilson's poetry is witty, wise and always enjoyable.
Bilston is a master of pithy wordplay and the supreme commander of the pun (my personal favourite is 'Robert Frost's Netflix Choice'). Many of the poems made me laugh out loud. He has much to say on the perils contemporary life: autocorrect, procrastinating on Twitter, holiday cottages with no wifi, delivery charges for internet shopping, Black Friday and the unreasonableness of someone wanting to borrow your mobile phone charger. The poems are sometimes Excel spreadsheets, flow charts and scrabble boards. Bilson's loathing for The Daily Mail and Jeremy Clarkson is a frequent theme. He also has some poignant observations: like 'At the Intersection' a moving venn diagram poem on the ways we misunderstand each other, and 'Chore Play' - the awkward juxtaposition of seduction with the boring minutiae of married life.
Brian Bilson's poetry is witty, wise and always enjoyable.
April 24, 2019
Some excellent selections, some very British-you have to be British to understand any of it.
A few brilliant pieces
like the smoking jacket
(mum liked that one)
and the rest was pretty much okay save for the WTF and the WTH ones.
Bilston is a good poet.
semi-decent guy and Twit... I mean a Tweep.
he does go ON and ON about the Daily Mail though.
A few brilliant pieces
like the smoking jacket
(mum liked that one)
and the rest was pretty much okay save for the WTF and the WTH ones.
Bilston is a good poet.
semi-decent guy and Twit... I mean a Tweep.
he does go ON and ON about the Daily Mail though.
May 15, 2021
Brian Bilston, aka the Poet Laureate of Twitter. Funny, irreverent and clever in equal measure.
Occasionally he uses the same joke twice, but then he blows you out of the water with a tragi-comic haiku or a poem in the shape of an Excel spreadsheet.
He writes poems I wish I’d thought of. Sometimes I want to cry with envy.
Occasionally he uses the same joke twice, but then he blows you out of the water with a tragi-comic haiku or a poem in the shape of an Excel spreadsheet.
He writes poems I wish I’d thought of. Sometimes I want to cry with envy.
February 27, 2018
Witty, clever, poking fun at language, some modern obsessions (e.g. mobile phones), books and publishing, grammar - you name it. Good use of rhyme, layout on the page, haikus, - these short poems will make you smile wherever you open the page.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews