Showing posts with label Non-Poems. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Non-Poems. Show all posts

Friday, 19 February 2021

Going Up

Another idea for a short story or non-poem. 

You take a stairway to go up, there are people behind you and is tis fairly narrow. The stairaway winds round and you realise you are not sure where you are going. There are no numbers on the doors or floors and there are no lifts. You cannot stop because there is a line of people behind you, they are going up and morally forcing you to continue.

You cannot stop, you cannot get tired , you feel you are in an Escher drawing, all the floors are the same. all the doors are closed and the same colour and all the doors are padlocked so there is no option of leaving the head of this hellish upwardly mobile conga line.

You still have to go on, you don't know why you came in here and surely you have to hit the top at some point , and then what?

Will it be like Jack and The Beanstalk or will there be a roof or will there just be a dead end, but still you keep going , looking for a way off , looking for a change.

You start to think you are just going round the same circuit , even though you are going up you are in some kind of Moebius strip type stairway that you can never get off.

You don't know how many are behind you and whether they feel the same as you.

There is no change, this keeps , going on and you wonder why you are not hungry , thirsty or need to relieve yourself, you are starting to think you are in a dream , but it seems so real.

You keep going what you think is up, and although you are tired , stopping is not an option,

There is no reason for it and you hope it will stop , or have an end, but it doesn't

You keep going up and up and up .........


And here is the non-poem version:


"One step starts it

The two and soon a flight of stairs

Then another

And Another

And More

And It never stops

You think it will end

But it keeps on going

Turn the corner

Another flight awaits

There is no turning back

Only going Up

And Up

And Up

And ........"

That's Friday's which probably says something about my state of mind.

I wasn't sure what to illustrate this but "The Staircase (Mystery) by Siouxsie and The Banshees seems perfect. Maybe that's what inspired me to create this.

Enjoy the weekend every one.



Wednesday, 17 February 2021

I'm Missing The Snow


This morning I finished "Left Out" which while it mostly depressed me on the infighting in the Labour Party but left with the observation that Corby had moved the party back to the Left , but I home that Starmer has something lined up to destroy the Tory party because he's being very quiet at the moment.

Next up is "Fake Law" by The Secret Barrister which doesn't start well as it intersperses right wing idiot quotes from the press , parliament and the rest, and is almost like a Daily Mail article but it is what you hear from so many everyday people who can't be bothered to think or look into what they are reading. I have been guilty several times but luckily have friends who can put me right.

The snow has gone and temperatures are up , but generally the weather is grey and uninspiring .I don't need two coats , gloves and a furry coat to go out in and while it's a bit brighter it's a bit meh. I  thought I would pen a non-poem on my thoughts , so I supposed it is still causing some inspiration. 


"I Miss The Snow

Crunching underfoot

The bright white pavements

Parks and Fields

I Miss The Snow


I Miss The Snow

I miss The Snowmen

The animal trails

A bird , a cat, a dog

I Miss The Show


I Miss The Snow

The iced puddles and ponds

Electric Brilliance from The Winter Sun

And still that crunch underfoot

I Miss The Snow"

So that's a non-poem for this day off, and the weather is boringly mild but I will nip out for a walk soon. While I'm writing this I picked up a CD called "Raw Rockabilly" from my Discogs pile , the music is great but the cover is a bit iffy as it contains the Confederate flag which has been adopted by American Nazis in the same way the St George's Flag and Union Jack have been purloined by British Nazis . It's also an anti Black Lives Matter image now, but when this was designed it was a redneck image but was not seen at that time as a racist image, which it undoubtedly was. I'd never seen it as a racist flag , but I had all the bits which if I had bothered to put them together, I would have immediately seen that it was. We all have to be continually learning and to be educated.

So musically will go with "Please Don't Touch" by Johnny Kidd and The Pirates from that album. More rock and roll than rockabilly but still a great record, which Motorhead and Girlschool updated for the St Valentine's Day Massacre EP which I have posted about recently and in the past (follow the tags).



Sunday, 31 January 2021

The Reality Cutter

It's that last day of January 2021 , and this will probably be my last post of January 2021. It is sort of strange to think that this will never happen again , not even in clocks and calendars are reset and we start again. It reminds me of seeing cloud formations or impressive skies knowing that if I don't capture them now with a camera then that will be them gone forever.

I've been wanting to write a book for decades and certainly have the tools to do it, and thanks to ebooks self publishing is now extremely easy via Amazon and others but every time I start , I hit a brick wall. This blog contains one short story contained in posts , but as yet this blog is my only publication. Hopefully I will do more. I have also included a few non-poems. These you can see by following the links

The title came to me as an idea for a story or book but not sure what it means or which way it goes , although I have a few ideas. The main concepts that come to mind are Philip Pullman's "The Subtle Knife" or the wielder of said instrument or films like Christopher Nolan's "Inception" or Duncan Jones' "Source Code". Duncan Jones remember came into this world as Zowie Bowie and is responsible for at least two must see films, the aforementioned one and the brilliant "Moon". The concept of the upside-down in "Stranger Things" also has flowed into my thoughts on this.

I thought I would do a google search on "The Reality Cutter" and you can see the results here , so it seems it's a reasonably original concept and maybe worth pursuing , although by posting this "The Reality Cutter" will drop into the Google search universe.

So what music do I share with you to illustrate this concept? The opening titles of "His Dark Materials:The Subtle Knife" I think fit the idea perfectly. If you haven't read the books and watched the film "The Golden Compass" which excellent , but the TV series does it better , you should really visit all these. 

Enjoy your last day of January 2021 (oo that sounds ominous doesn't it)

Thursday, 10 December 2020

Observations on a Piece of Clear Plastic

 A Contact Lens

Sticks to the Eye

Comes To Terms With The Eye

To Focus

And Make Your Sight Good

It is not Mechanical

It Is Not Alive

But It Works

Human Invention

Never Fails to Amaze

So Many Things

But

This Piece of Clear Plastic

Makes My Life

So Convenient

It doesn't Steam Up

And works 99% Of The Time


Yeah m this is a sort of Dylan like Tarantula stream of consciousness thoughts about wearing contact lenses. Is it a poem. You decide that because it has little structure , doesn't rhyme or conform to anything apart for using words you will find in a dictionary, much like me, but I felt I had to write it down. 

I reckon really it's a non-poem , it looks like a poem, but it isn't. I have actually used that term before. If you follow the Non-Poem link I've actually written about ten of these pieces and that surprised me, it's almost like I consider myself a writer.

Maybe "Blind Vision" by Blancmange will be a suitable accompaniment.

Monday, 23 March 2020

A Timely Writing - Group Hug


A semi poem for our current situation:

Group Hug


I don't know that you have it
You don't know that I have it
Let's stay a little away from each other
We can still talk
Wave
Sing to Each Other
Speak
Text
Speak on our phone
or Skype
Or Many Social Media Platforms
Look out for those Who Can't
We Can Still Be Friends
We Can Still Share So Much
You Matter To Me
And (I Think)
I Matter To You
We Will Get Through This
And We Will Hug Once More
Let#'s Look Forward To
A Massive Group Hug
Round Grey's Monument
(Or Wherever)
We Are Bigger , and Stronger thank this
Group Hug

And a song so go with it ... from the appropriately named "Life'll Kill Ya" album another of my favourite Warren Zevon songs "I Was In The House When The House Burned Down "


Wednesday, 12 September 2018

Some Lines


Suffering from a cold, runny nose , headache and the like, what certain softies call 'flu' or man 'flu' . It's a cold, a head cold, it's unpleasant and I want it to go away.

Sitting downstairs this popped into my head for some reason. It has before, but I thought I would formalise it as one of my Non-Poems, just thinking of what we have that we will probably never use, but we still collect:

We have films
We will never watch
We have books
We will never read
We have records
We will never listen to
We have devices
We will never use

........

Or Will We?
What we have
Gives us choice
We Justify it
As Planning
For The Future

..........

I Will
Watch That Film
Read That Book
Listen To That Record
Use That Device
I Will
I Will

I am going through tissues and headachey so will leave you with "Legend of A Mind" by The Moody Blues from "In Search of The Lost Chord" which references Timothy Leary the LSD guru.


Saturday, 1 September 2018

I Was Going To Write A Poem Today


Of course I'm not exactly a writer, not even close but several lines came to mind and this is a snippet

Fat bloke on a mobility scooter
Wheezing as he lights a second tab
Moaning and coughing 
As he tries to hail a cab
The "Sorry Not in Services Bus" 
That almost mows you down
These are everyday things
You see when you hit the Town

I'm surprised I remembered that much, but I've written it down now, and these are the dangers of wandering around the Clayton Street / Newgate Street area on a Saturday morning.

I've been quite amazed how hot it was this afternoon almost like Summer had invaded Autumn like when Winter invaded Spring and Summer. As I say to people , Weather is Complicated.

Darkness is falling and the nights are drawing in though I'm not sure what tomorrow might bring, probably more good weather, which is always a good thing.

I'll leave you with "The Aubergine That Ate Rangoon"  from Hawkwind's "Astounding Sounds,Amazing Music" album, a bit of laid back mental music that actually fits with the #SongsYouveNeverHeard sequence.

The title is a steal from "The Eggplant That Ate Chicago" a title that I knew and thought it was a book or play, but is actually another song by Dr. West's Medicine Show and Junk Band and was actually penned by Norman Greenbaum of "Spirit In The Sky" fame. So that's a song that I have never heard and may be sharing it with you tomorrow.

Just had a quick listen on Amazon preview and it's about an Alien Invasion and fairly close to a jug band versionSheb Wooley's "Purple People Eater" so I won't be sharing it with you tomorrow.

Sleep well my friends.




Thursday, 17 May 2018

Some Words


This has just come from saying goodbye to a dear friend recently and what tends to happen to us at gatherings and events wher you meet up with people you care for and like being with but don't see that often. I am not a poet, but the narrow visual form of a poem can make for simple easy and effective reading. I am still working my way through "Tarantula" by Bob Dylan and that is not easy reading but has grabbed my attention with it's stream of consiousness ramblings and semi-stories. Anyway this sort of sums up my feelings after these events. If it has a title it's "Hi"

Hi
Great To See You
(Hugs)
Absolutely Lovely
It's Been So Long
I've Been So Busy
Not A Minute To Myself
What Have You Been Up To?
Really?
I Know
We must meet up
Lunch
Tea
Coffee
Maybe a Concert
Or
The Theatre
We Must Do It Soon
Next Week
Or After The Bank Holiday
At The End Of The Month
Or Next Month
We Should 
We Must 
We Will
Til Next Time .......

But We Seldom Do

We should really make more of an effort to keep in touch with each other, it is far too easy to let it drift but we can make this happen, so let's do it. I'll leave you with a Roy Harper song "Forever", which I have always loved, and love to share this with you.........



Monday, 28 December 2015

On The Road


This weekend I drove 300 hundred inhospitable miles to and from Scotland. It that time I saw rain , snow , ice , surface flooding and coming back the combination of bright sunshine and wet roads made it like driving into an arc light . At one point the sun was coming through the trees to the right but due the speed and the distance between the trees it was like a stroboscopic effect. It inspired me to write this:

Hard Road

Hard Road

Speeding into the arc light
I should be aware of the road
 It's like a mirror
Can't see the markings
Can't see the other cars 
Three Lanes Bad
Two Lanes Worse
The sun is strobing
Through the trees
I still can't see
I've survived
Ice
Snow
Rain
Flood
I am still going
But
This isn't driving
It's just surviving


That's my unstructured "poem" of my experience over the weekend. Two small amendments were suggested by my good friend Joan , and they have been taken on board. Obvious choice for me is Black Sabbath's "Hard Road" , which is probably my favourite Sabbath Song, still gives me goosebumps

I really hope you have a had a great Christmas or Yule break and are ready to run up to the end of the year with gusto.