Fragments of David XXX

XXX

David was stood there waiting for Grant

When he finally arrived

‘You didn’t have to do that’ He proclaimed

‘You don’t know what you’re done

I should know you don’t make deals with them’

Grant didn’t answer for a few seconds

‘Come on Dad, we’ve got a long way to go

And who said I made a deal’

His horns growing larger by the second

Almost like another life was breathing on his cheeks.

Fragments of David IXXX

IXXX

They found him there like that

Laid on the ground the papers said

With another crucifix (not his) laid nearby

And his arms spread in the air like wings

Almost like they had beat the warm night air

Nobody can understand why father like son

Were found in such a similar pattern upon death

And why a distant tone of laughter

Could be found lingering in the distance

Before suddenly cutting out.

Fragments of David XVIII

XVIII

Leaping forward

He slumped onto the ground

Like a sculpted rock

And he saw disappear

Only to re-appear five yards away

‘He thought he could make a deal

And then break it’ She laughed

‘Guess what? He couldn’t’

She clapped her hands

And darkness flooded his eyes.

Fragments of David (XXVI)

(XXVI)

Nobody noticed Grant had gone

Until the doors had shut

on the directors car door

and  most people

were about to go home

and his crucifix

was found on the front door

almost like it was a midway point

rather than a ending point

until they all hear the scream.

Fragments of David (XXV)

(XXV)

‘Yes’ She scrawled with disinterest

Before looking through him

‘Cat got your tongue,

I have other places to go to, you know?’

Almost like she really couldn’t be bothered.

‘I, I’ Grant began but his words disappeared

And she carried on eventually

Looking at him again

‘Your David’s son?’ before concluding

‘I didn’t know he had a son’

Fragments of David (XXIV)

(XXIV)

Whether it was her eyes

Grant wasn’t sure or the fact

She was simply just that little bit too pale

That little bit too perfect

Stepping out of a dream,

 Illegible in the scrawl of

A strange sense of something

Not quite right in the light

Grant couldn’t move in terror

When she said again ‘Yes’

Fragments of David (XXIII)

(XXIII)

Exploding upwards

Grant thought for a few seconds

She wasn’t going to answer

And just carry on back to her car

And dropping completely from sight

Echoing the tension

Like she was rigged for a long journey

And she said coldly ‘Yes’

Leaving Grant realising for the first time

She wasn’t human.

Fragments of David (XXII)

(XXII)

Looking backwards

there wasn’t something right about her

Grant could see

With the eyes which flickered from white

To hazel in seconds

‘Yes’ She called out

cutting the breeze short

‘I think you knew my Dad’

Grant paused before looking in horror

At what her reaction was.

Fragments of David (XXI)

Fragments of David

(XXI)

Following the graveyard

She was under the tunnel within seconds

Almost like she was glad to have left

And by the time Grant got there

She was just about to enter the carpark

Stop, he called out

His words carrying a lead weight

Across the breeze

Before she turned round

And looked at him wordlessly in shock.

Fragments of David (XX)

Fragments of David

(XX)

Moving the goalposts around

Grant was the first to see her arriving

And the first to see sit there at the back

Her face in her arms

And the first to see her leave,

Her hair pushed down in the wind

Walking through the graveyard

Then the tunnel next to the canal

That led to the carpark

Before Grant finally caught up with her.


(A few of my poems 'Bad Neil Young cover versions in Nana's attic and The Swan have appeared on Poets Unplugged Podcast.

Both poems are linked onto all kinds of other Podcast servers such as Itunes, Spotify, Streaker etc and can be accessed as above)

Fragments of David (XIX)

Fragments of David 

(XIX)

she was married

everybody found out afterwards

even though they had separated for months

not that it mattered in the first place

or was as the case proved to be

and although it was suggested

they met through his work

losing themselves in lust

holding onto the scraps of their lives

it was amazing neither of them said anything.

Fragments of David (XVIII)

Fragments of David

(XVIII)

His funeral was vast

With his family thinking

It would bring just a few people along

Maybe some old work colleagues

Perhaps a old school friend

People who they hadn’t seen for years

Or people they didn’t really know

Who David had helped out

Once upon a time

And then there was her.

Fragments of David (XVII)

Fragments of David

(XVII)

His diary was the most telling

with various intials

Laced across days

Leading up to his death

Which the Police thought

Were just his way of appointments.

To them, he was just a normal

Family man

Who worked himself to the ground

And had a heart attack

They didn’t understand. They were wrong.

Fragments of David (XVI) / New Spoken Word of Countryside Poems

Fragments of David

(XVI)

Neither of his sisters knew

About the affair

Let alone had any inkling

He had been that unhappy

With the way his life was.

To them, he was the golden child

The one their mother loved

Above all any of the rest of them

And the one afterwards

They never really knew atall.


(As I am not really allowed to go for walks in the country like I like to, I have gone and recorded for fun some of my favourite country based parks which you can hear here)

Fragments of David (XV) / Speak Easy News

Fragments of David

(XV)

Who was the woman

He had been having a affair with

Grant was the first to ask

Exhausted in pain

When they found out he hadn’t been working

Who was this woman

He had been seeing for five years

And was halfway back almost to

Before being tethered to his wheel

Shoulder free in his guilt.

(** SpeakEasy News also from the spoken word open mic night I co-run **

Thanks to everybody who attended and read at Speak Easy - our Spoken Word Open Mic night last night. We had 16 readers I seem to recall (Andy Npoet, Belle Kenyon, Mike Booth, Dray Zera, Amanda Steel, Michael Wilson, Reggie Agulha, Tracy Walker, Stefan Stefan C Gambrell, David Dalgleish, Steve Smythe, Pete Slater, Yvonne Ugarte, Jef Jeff Dawson (aka Jeffarama!), Jacqeline Jacqueline Pemberton and Gordon Zola) and a good 6 people who just turned up to watch.

As advertised last night, we are not expecting the Sip to be open in May, although we will be back there hopefully soon and we have agreed on two dates for May both on Zoom 06 May and 20 May 2020.
Both nights are already full after a very busy day on email and facebook etc and we are operating on a reverse list for both (Places for the reverse list can be booked through me or Steve or on our Speak Easy page on facebook etc).

Confirmed readers are:

06 May 2020 – Steve Smythe, Andy Npoet, Amanda Steel, Anthony Briscoe , Antonia Fusaro, Lisa O'Hare, Katie Haigh, Melanie Lisa, Dave Hartley, Mike Booth, Penny Sharman, Reggie Agulha, Anthony Smith Ben Willkommens, Elenia Gr, Amy King , Christine Fowlerr , Fokkina McDonnell.

20 May 2020 – Steve Smythe, Andy Andy Npoet, Maria Byrne, Natasha Tingle, Lady Ilaria Passeri, Gemma Whiteley, Lindy Newns, David Bond , Alicia Fitton, Dray Zera, Michael Wilson, Kev Kay Write, Caroline Burrows, Emily Oldfieldd, Gordon Zola, Tracy Walker, Jeff Dawson, Yvonne Ugarte.
If I have missed somebody off here, please let me know (and if I have I am sorry), as soon as possible. 

(Andy N). Otherwise, thanks to everybody for who has attended the last two nights. We’ve loved doing two events in April 2020.

Andy Npoet, Steve Smythe and Amanda Steel.)

Fragments of David (XIV)

Fragments of David

(XIV)

Nobody knew what to tell Andy

Their youngest

When they came to get him

From David’s mum

Right after they found out

Wiping out an argument between them

Which had been bubbling for years

In his absence

As soon as Maggie

In a flood of unspoken sadness.

Fragments of David (XIII) and new Spoken Label session

Fragments of David

(XIII)

The second security guard

Who arrived just after the police

Saw nothing but the carnage

When the Ambulance arrived

Then the family

Cursing himself silently

He was running late

And had he got the earlier bus

Perhaps he could have saved him

Until he saw the body and realised he couldn’t.

(Forgot to mention yesterday, I released another new session on Spoken Label - a brand new exclusive session with dear friend Sarra Culleno. It can be found on bandcamp at here and all pf the usual networks  Itunes/Apple, Anchor, Spotify, GooglePodcasts, Pocketcasts, Youtube, RadioPublic, Castbox, Overcast, Castro, Breaker)

Fragments of David (XII)

Fragments of David

(XII)

Jon, their second son

Was excused detention

When the news broke the morning after

He had been caught bullying

Some of the 1^st formers for money

Excusing his threats and violence

When Grant had to come and get him

With almost a short lived satisfaction

They would be rid of him briefly

Right up to when Grant drove them both away.

Fragments of David (XI) / More Spoken Label News / First Film Review

Fragments of David

(XI)

Trapped inside the van

It took the Police thirty seconds

To get the door open

And then five minutes

To get inside it.

The running engine

Splashing in the darkness

In a broken green light

Striking any hope he was alive

The longer it took into dust.


(While in lock down I have also started watching loads of old films while in lockdown from a massive box under my bed - people have got me or I have picked up over the years and will be mentioning this some of the footnotes over some days - first up is Douglas Sirk's classic 1956 film - There's always Tomorrow. The trailer can be found here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clgI3jvwZzw

The film is described as "Between his twin masterpieces All That Heaven Allows and Written on the Wind, Douglas Sirk created this razor-sharp study of male crisis, both a glittering testament to love's labours lost and his most unforgiving vision of suburban conformity. Disregarded and neglected by his family, executive toy manufacturer Clifford Groves (Fred MacMurray) is unexpectedly reunited with his former co-worker Norma Miller (Barbara Stanwyck). As the old friends catch up on lost time, his children's suspicions and hostility to the new relationship threaten to push their father away permanently and throw into disarray the lives of all concerned. With crystalline, noir-tinged cinematography from Russell Metty (Touch of Evil) and heartbreaking performances by Stanwyck and MacMurray, reunited 12 years after Double Indemnity in their final on-screen pairing, There's Always Tomorrow finds one of Hollywood's greatest dramatists at his finest.

I saw this film originally in university I guess after getting told by one of my Film Tutors to watch this film after watching Double Indemnity. Double Indemnity is much of a film noir I guess, There's always tomorrow is much of a Love Noir almost,  a search for youth again twenty years afterwards as a middle aged man meets up with a old flame by chance after years of neglect (not on purpose) by his wife and his family. I won't give loads away here but Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck are both terrific and I love the subtle nature of how this relationship develops and doesn't fall into the bedroom which would have happened twenty or thirty years later. 

The film is dated somewhat I think but the quality of the film making shines throughout and with it only been a little over 80 minutes, the film does really out-stay and leaves a major impact instead of been two hours plus. 

8/10. Well worth tracking down) 

(There is a new Spoken Label Podcast - a audio version of the live feed Amanda did on twitter the other day where she read out a extract of her book and I asked her a few questions in relation to it. This can be heard here and all the usual networks, Itunes, Spotify, Anchor, Streaker, Radio public etc, etc)

Fragments of David (X)

Fragments of David

(X)

His oldest son, Grant

Said afterwards

He knew as soon as he left

For work that morning

That would be the last he saw of him.

He didn’t know why

But the thoughts

Accompanied him throughout that day

Until they rang him

And his tears were shipwrecked in emotion.


(A New single by Ocean in a Bottle has appeared on Silber Media called 25 June 2018. It's part of their April fields project of field recordings. I remixed it after doing the original field recordings live and during the process added a ton of ambient and drone from the original samples into it before merging it again. The end result can be found here) 

Fragments of David (IX)

Fragments of David

(IX)

Splashed out across the newspaper

For days afterwards

The scandal faded down

After a few days

Like a faded martyrdom

Thrust deep into everybody

Who knew him with a slow thud

Leaving them

Pouring in their regrets

The more they all found out.

(Little reminder that my and Amanda's set for Eva Elizabeth's
'A Night for the NHS's sets can be seen here:

Andy N's set

Amanda Steel's set

We've had nearly two hundred views between the pair of us.
Please donate generally here)

Fragments of David (VIII)

Fragments of David

(VIII)

How long he had

been cheating on her

only came out afterwards

and the simple fact

they had married too young

and the real reason

laid out in plain letters

why he had been working

late night after late night

unable to tell anybody else.



(My single for Ocean in a Bottle for Silber Records back in January has appeared on the Gribcast Podcast - made up over this 
http://gribcast.libsyn.com/051-favorite-books-read-in-2019?fbclid=IwAR2jbncuN32LwkvtubuNnIrDCPcuLb3sX7d7RXjkbnQSNl8zlwu2CKwLRjI)

Fragments of David (VII)

Fragments of David 

(VII)

Clicking inside the tension

the security guard had

been more interested in the United match

hoping they would pick up the pace

and couldn’t be bothered checking outside.

Abandoned he told himself

probably kids who had stolen it

or somebody who had left it to the pub

and would come back tomorrow for it

without failing to realise he was wrong.


(In addition today, a new session has appeared on Spoken Label featuring Pete K Mally. This can be heard / downloaded from here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here)

(Me and Amanda have also been featured on the Poets Unlimited Podcast which can be heard here and here today) 

Fragments of David (VI) and new publication / new music release on Slightly Off Kilter Records)

Fragments of David 

(VI)

Knocking at the edge of his dreams

he was married at 18

after meeting his wife when they were 14

only having eyes for each other

it was said straight from the beginning

carried in a sad love

when they nearly lost their first son

after his mother still birthed twins

leaving him terrified for weeks afters

to return to his job.


(Another Podcast has featured one of my poems Bad Neil Young covers in Nana's attic here, here, here, here and here. 

Slightly off Kilter Records has new released a new album called Dulcet Business 2 which features two brand new Ocean in a Bottle tracks 'Asleep in Space' and 'Space Dust' which can be downloaded above. I am really proud to be among this album as Paul who runs this label is a amazing guy and I am honoured to be on his label here)

Fragments of David (V) / New Full length Poetry Set / New Ocean in a Bottle single

Fragments of David 

(V)

When the ambulance

the Police told them

his van had been flashing in and out

for half a hour

with the floodlights

building a near noir mystery

glimpsed in the mist

under the bridge near Barton Dock Road

passed out in guilt

touching too close to the truth.




(Yesterday myself and Amanda did charity poetry sets for a special charity event set up by Eva 'A Night for the NHS. Me and Amanda had a great time doing our sets. My set can be seen here and Amandas set can seen here. Eva's page for donating directly is here)

 (I've also just released a new Ocean in a Bottle single 'Building the Bridges from Mars to the Asteroid Belt'. My new single is a side step at least temporary from its ambience rays into a tapestry of loops / delays with vocals and sounds to create a bridge like effect with layers and layers climbing over the top of each other until it feels like an orchestra of effects leaving you feeling like you are travelling over a bridge.

Building Bridges from Mars to the Asteroid Belt takes it’s listener on a journey uses the loops and effects to create a different kind of ambience than perhaps its fan would usually expect but would still gain as much pleasure in a somewhat different way. The single can be downloaded / streamed
from here) 

Fragments of David (IV) (and other news and guest post)

Fragments of David (IV)

Blowing bubbles under water

it was said he fixed his mum’s pipes

that was leeking all over the street

in about ten minutes

when he was only twelve.

Digging clues to his future

as he causally sorted out the problem

with the minimum of fuss

leaving both of his parents

spellbound for hours afterwards.

(There is now also a new Podcast on Spoken Label featuring a chat with Indie Publisher 'Fly on the Wall' (ran by Belle Kenyon - more below with the guest post. This session can be found here (Bandcamp) here (Youtube), here (Anchor), here (Itunes), here (Streaker), here (Castbox), here (GooglePodcasts), here (Overcast), here (Castro), here (Radiopublic) and here (Spotify)

We are on this festival today also (I'm on at 7pm and Amanda 7.10pm (Video Footage to follow)

***

(Also included below - a guest post from good friend to Spoken Label Belle Kenyon (from Fly on the Wall Press) regarding a really interesting sounding book) 

‘Birds Who Eat French Fries’ by Michael Maul

Michael Maul’s second collection is packed with humour and charismatic reflections on the puzzling nature of human existence, juxtaposed with the ingenuity of the animal kingdom!  Unafraid to tackle large topics such as hate speech and abusive relationships, Maul takes the reader on a journey which has all the complexities and wonders of modern life.

About the author

Michael Maul resides in Bradenton, Florida, living near Sarasota Bay. His poems have previously appeared in numerous literary publications and anthologies in the U.S. as well as in Ireland, Scotland, and Australia.

He is also a past winner of the Mercantile Library Prize for Fiction, for a short story set in Siesta Key, and his work was selected for inclusion in Intro 4, an anthology of new voices published by The University of Virginia Press.

Maul is a graduate of the Ohio University creative writing program, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He later held faculty and administrative positions at Ohio University (Athens, Ohio,) The Columbus College of Art and Design (Columbus, Ohio,) and Saint Louis University (St. Louis, Missouri.

Reviews:

“I received and am enjoying Birds Who Eat French Fries. Impressive!”

-          Ed Lathy, PhD. Former Dean, Liberal Arts, Columbus College of Art and Design

“I was blown away! I love almost every poem in this book. There are highs and lows, humor and pathos and poems that left me thinking for days. Honestly, this may be my favorite book of poetry ever. I hope to see more from this poet. A lot more. I know that taste in poetry is an individual thing, but I don’t think you will be disappointed if you give this a read.”
  
    Tim Gibson on 'Dancing Naked In Front of Dogs' 

-         

     BIRDS WHO EAT FRENCH FRIES

They just don’t care anymore,

bellies distended,

living like bums performing for tossed scraps

and Tater Tots

in fast food parking lots.

They were made for better things:

to float on waves,

to search for schools offshore,

or perch above the Earth,

to scan for signs of prey they enjoyed in former days.

But junk food birds have since learned

to open crumpled bags

and, with beak and claw,

to dine on human throwaways.

Pizza crusts or Taco Bell,

Mickey D’s, or KFC skin and bones

locked inside Styrofoam,

these are the tastes of sophisticated birds who,

after evolving from dinosaurs,

just took another leap ahead

by becoming us instead.

Fragments of David (III) and other news

Fragments of David

(III)

Sprayed out across the wheel

the Police thought it was a false alarm

when they arrived

all the way to when

they tapped on his window

and they thought

he had simply drunk too much

and he was too afraid to go home

to face his wife

deciding the van was a better option.



(I've also had two new poems 'Breathless Postcard' and 'Pluto' also appear in this publication which is going to coming out monthly
also today's Living Room Sessions include a old favourite from my days in Words and Music 'Edge of the World with Billy McKenzie'