oh how he aches to be a part of something
something truly momentous in human history
something to be remembered for millennia..
well lucky for him
the biggest bomb ever
will soon flatten him into oblivion with his entire city..
oh how he aches to be a part of something
something truly momentous in human history
something to be remembered for millennia..
well lucky for him
the biggest bomb ever
will soon flatten him into oblivion with his entire city..
from the vantage point of the ostrich
saturated
collaged
curated
head in the ground searching for the origin point
of the rainbow shine
the mind bubbling bent from light..
from the vantage point of the ostrich
shepherded
parcelled
distributed
undulated on the unrolling
ambience subterranean wave machine engineers provide..
here the battalions of ostriches are
slugged by crabs alluring siren songs
to search under the sand starless
and lying here their astrologers and astronomers are..
here the ostriches stand
protruding asses extrude slanty aerials
stay informed and trust the plan
here clawing laser pens the ostriches stand..
from the vantage point of the ostrich
triggered
enraged
reconfigured
synchronise-dancing to the beats of the echo chamber
a seeded solid state unit awake reflexive
uplifted projecting toxic froth insensible..
the ostrich occasionally raises its head
searching for sunglasses
then gazes wide-eyed at the sun-gazers
bemused and more than a little disgusted..
tourniquet the unknown war widow
as flags are folded in memoriam
for soldiers popped to orphan a casket..
imposing monuments loom
the fallen autumn leaves lightly smudge
the official line signed-off and vaulted..
anthems fulsome stir solemn empty
salt the desert a vast glisten
water the lake of tears a mirage..
veiled shells succumb
struck numb clutch those photographs
polish the frame of the finger-brushed glass..
solder base metal filigree
a sapling fashioned to nail a piece of earth
posthumously decorate with box-fresh toy animals..
self-medication
uncoils its side-venom medicine
rationing the universe of salt forlorn
imbibing its spawning spoil unawares
incisor gums inject fanged straws
anonymised in a tryst with misery
the viper strike enticement
the slick lunging kiss of a wraith
in generous sympathy
the self-medication venom oils
stays the immediate execution with the slaking palliative
once a pleasure now the chore
though in the delay
ingeniously disguised as self-preservation
floored
holds court like the ludicrous emperor
the jester and source
war paint licks..
in the numbness
the illusion sauce
glosses the barbed candyfloss rescue
the price the cost
tumbling out the matryoshka doll the trojan horse
beneath the dark light flicker
the ebb away so fleet
inside flesh out
slide rule-kindness a blindfolded
essence effortlessly debilitates..
palms wash the mirror through the face
like a veil through dry ice cold-boiled cobalt midnight
discarnate gate-crasher liminal
gaming make-believe filters
humanising the broken toy with frost
garlanding the suspension..
within the crystallising bubble
the alarm is softened
the caressing clouds avalanche a compress
slowly deceptively deliberately
rotate like lowering blade-sheathed wisps
ungrasped then grasped
as fanciful timelines coalesce
the present absences univited appear ever more apparent
and implodes and implodes the fateful agency target..
whatever
next
will you trust your intuition..
a prison planet
the severest test of the spirit and soul
a descension ascension
for whom earth-life tolls..
whatever next..
yet
an open heart your fortress
cosmos..
a beautiful earth..
to catch the baby "
unfold the vacuum-pack bamboo bucket
and hold one metre above the backside
use the purple measuring tape provided..
only utilise this purposed bamboo bucket
plastic buckets are bad for the environment
but even worse for the head of the jettisoned his-baby...++
should the his-baby begin to appear
do hold and support its head
do not pull its ears
do encourage the birthist to scream and safely be in his own moment
exploring the range of sounds he can make with his vocal tract unleashing
essentially generating and pouring out all his tenderest emotional expressions..
observe primal vowels twisting and turning
rising and elongating
and fusing with abrupt yet spirited interludes of silence
ask a trained colleague to help time the silences
see chart..
footnotes
*never ask a pregnant man-person breaking water to run down the stairs
always use a wheelchair and lift if available
knees and shins should firmly rest on the chair seat
backside raised proud and high toward the lift doors
any false teeth should be gently removed
allow the paramedics to lead..
+make a mental note of anyone refusing joy
inform
feel empowered..
= (insert name) is having a his-baby..
percy patel is used only as example
so if the delighted man-person is named bob smith
you would not ecstatically exclaim
make way and celebrate
percy patel is having a his-baby
you would ecstatically exclaim
make way and celebrate
bob smith is having a his-baby..
fun question
what would you ecstatically exclaim
if bob smith is in a relationship with percy patel
whose his-baby would he be having
see notes for correct protocol..
..
** remember just because a fluffy towel may look soft and fluffy
does not mean it is soft and fluffy..
# fluffy towels are only to be deployed to protect privacy and dignity..
" be careful not to drop the his-baby
it is not a marrow or a man-size baby melon..
++ fun fact
a his-baby will fly out at speed
often exceeding 7km/h..
Dear Reader,
Reading time will be at least twenty minutes.
and what on earth is living punctuation..
i could not recall ever watching living punctuation on attenborough
i could not make sense of any of it
what was all that meant to mean..
searching for guidance at home that evening meditating
i connected with a vedic ascended master
his third eye only shrugged
advised me to welcome this as yet another spiritual test
oh no not again i groaned and protested
but he casually waved me away with his usual scratch-and-sniff cursory blessing
thus resigned to my fate off the next morning to the training i went..
******************************************
the meeting room i was sent to was vast and bare
i heard a noise
sounded almost like a voice
i was the only one there.. can you hear me..
after a few minutes waiting
the door clicked closed behind me
and i beheld the facilitator
she advised me not to be scared
and for some strange reason that made me feel very scared..
the silence that fell between us was like floors of stacked night collapsing
i was so uncomprehending
soon we will live in a society where stones are to be your loving pets
and where certain kinds of liquids your benign partners/initiating masters..
i could not tell whether she was mocking me
or being serious
i wanted to be hugged by a fluffy bear
or failing that i wanted to jump off from the tallest building..
would you like a comfort break the facilitator delicately enquired
yeah that would be great i anxiously replied..
after the break the facilitator prodded
you probably have a question or two..
and i asked with a fatalistic sigh
what is the most important thing i need to know..
need to know and understand at this time..
the facilitator pondered
and then with a finger drew a diagonal line..
at the appointed date and time
we wish to nominate you as the semicolon ally
we will facilitate you a heartfelt damascene conversion
and broadcast you conversing with every kind of sentient punctuation..
eventually you will marry a semicolon fashioned from an alternative realm
or if you prefer you may marry a full stop or a comma
soon none of these things shall be regarded as extremely strange
or worse still fatuously decreed as unholy perversions
but merely new norms reflecting our ascension..
multi-dimensional stakeholders sublime
the sparkling black hole dance floor we shall tap-dance
circumventing the mind our grand upskilled inversions
higher than the stars
designed finer than creation shall scintillate..
the timetable has been set
the scripts of our sceptics fine-tuned and polished
this enfeebled controlled opposition shall be plastic injected
to be obliterated
by our dimmer-switcher fanatical pop culture moulded sculptors..
and in a very believable way you shall also be inserted
as part of the strategic infantry for this fresh order..
oh and please do not ask why we are doing all this
without offending we know you will not understand..
that we are doing this because..
because..we can..
after collecting my thoughts atomised
i asked the facilitator whether i would be offered a choice
she replied i will offer you that illusion
for if you opt to say no and try to walk away
the end result would be exactly the same
through electronic warfare we could brainwash you anyway
to be programmed and activated
or we would allow you to simply implode and implode
fractured inside ever-looping spiralled deja vu..
you could be sent on a one-way ticket returned to another realm
for we have an exchange programme with..them..
or you could do the wiser thing and volunteer
remember you only have to pretend to believe
at least that part really is up to you..
i responded no thanks i will take my chances
and as i got up to leave
the facilitator replied
let us circle back and see
a gentle taster of what might be..
be prepared..
tonight after you fall asleep..
you soon will know what i mean
please realise it will be real and not a dream
and you will not recall anything i have mentioned to you here
and linear time will not mean a thing
past present and future will be so last year..
i locked my front door
i gargled with and then swallowed a fistful of elephant knock-out pills
i screwed ear plugs tightly in my ears
then i pulled the bed covers right over me
i clutched a new baseball bat in one hand
though felt only as gangster as a ping pong champion
and then and only then i allowed myself to enter sleep
so slowly..so very slowly..
******************************************
i found myself in the centre of a vast and packed-full amphitheatre
i was sat on a chair in the centre of a rostrum
and no more than two metres looking away from me
stood a human-size exclamation mark..
the exclamation mark seemed almost gendered
though i asked myself how can that be
it wore an elegant flowing scarlet dress
and a strange apparatus suspended over its head
which looked like a lampshade made of spinning coloured glass..
the exclamation mark looked out to the audience
the audience made up of all kinds of strange animate shapes
all in exotic dress complete with diadems
with a flourish the exclamation mark turned to them..
welcome back
our next guest is a so-called human being
part of the exchange programme we have with..them..
the demure exclamation mark floated above me..
welcome human..being..welcome
let us start by discussing the current controversy..
so human being please answer
please answer this..
why should we provide toilets for human beings here
for we understand there are no toilets provided yet
for any living punctuation guests in your realm over there
please explain..
i could only splutter out
i had no idea where i was
and i had no any idea what living punctuation is
or knowledge of living punctuation in my realm
or what realm meant
or why so-called living punctuation require toilets..
my statement was met not only with utter disgust and disbelief
but the most derisive and uproarious and mocking audience laughter
the demure exclamation mark archly raised its one eyebrow
my goodness
so-called living
punctuation you say
and we are told to celebrate that we are you and you are us
that we are all in this together
allies with purpose
yet you archly claim that living punctuation does not exist in your realm
and clearly you do not even pretend to empathise
as to why we might require specialised toilets
the exclamation mark turned to the audience and mimed WOW
anyway we know the truth
i already interviewed your senior line manager..
i replied that i had no idea what my senior line manager meant
when he upbraided me for not giving my semicolons preferred pronouns
again i asked the exclamation mark if it would explain to me
what living punctuation is and why they require washroom facilities
and why not comprehending or not complying
is the sin for which i have been sent here
wherever here is
i asked if this was a punishment or some kind of purgatory..
a punishment a purgatory
the exclamation mark acted horrified..
and there was a sharp intake of breath from the audience
the palpable shock rippled through the amphitheatre
the sentient shapes twisted and screamed blue murder
for they felt insulted their home i had described as my punishment..
insult upon insult
this will not stand
human reprobate
your time is at hand
to you the audience i ask
should this heretic human being hang..
the entire amphitheatre screamed YESSSS
some chanted HANG IT HANG IT HANG IT
then i was roughly pulled off my chair
to be dragged across the stage
as terrifying coronets screeched and belted and blasted..
to rapturous cheers a neon gallows rose slowly off the floor
then a rope was pulled tightly around my neck
the exclamation mark smirked her treppaning smile
there and then i realised
as tears welled up and stung my eyes
i was about to meet my ignominious end..
the exclamation mark enquired any last words human being
human being soon-to-be-human fairly dead
shocked on hearing her words
the reality of my situation really hit me there and then
stunned and utterly defeated
i only could shake my head despairing
so alone so abandoned and so confused and devastated i felt
becoming ever more terrified the more i struggled for breath..
there was an excruciatingly slow countdown from ten to one
though the audience was having fun..
as i closed my eyes waiting for zero..
ONE…………………..ZERO.
the trapdoor gave way beneath me
a snap to silence
welcomed me to a lived eternity of nothing..
***********************
suspended in grey nothingness i float
i have only hazy memories of who i am or was
i have a vague feeling i may have done something very wrong
is it some kind of bleed-through flashback
or am i going mad
the conscience pink-slip
to swan and sip the rainbows drop-shipped
the silvery transition drip-drip-drip so beguiling
the knock-knock apprehends the permeating silence
the vista from near the top of the tower shade
the non-player characters attenuate
the falling feathers echo
the thud of a fallen feather..
compartmentalised merit-ants
bend as they snap storm-tossed
watchtowers beam their atoms shrunken blesses
as the cryptocracy crystal ball-visualises
the strongest heavy-hitting lid closes ever-tighter
comfortably compressing the compressed
as all the coincidences neatly lined up in a row
are always best-dressed..
another knock-knock stills the uneven air
where a few of the chosen ones waver
all the treats all the baubles
their beautiful white noise not quite..
not quite vanquishing the within stirring within..
that purer voice dilates the murmuring
knock-knock..the last chance presents the
offer
to those ones not yet so gone..
as they make their today splendid by dangling you worms for tomorrow
promises delayed eternally only fulfil such architects of sorrow
as they make their tomorrow brighter by redefining emptiness today
a fortune equips the designer vacuum and scripts the sating soliloquy..
grow a wish-list of lacquered thought-trinkets
replace and replace until extinguished
be a data node on their cashless farm
terminate heretics hiding in the reeds of the panopticon
gift yourself the given gilded status uniform
prepare their banquet you the fatted lucky charm..
cash cow vital statistics
smear your essence with colour-schemed spit
be as individual at a tattooed winking actor
be their sunbeam pounding the hamster wheel
be their wind blowing their sails
be their green beached whale..
virtue signal your vestige
bottled awareness is the message
drill for nectar in the abyss-breeder
zombie defiance of the festooned creature
measure yourself by their demographic vectors
babble the same chrome-koan as your corporate mentors..
effervescent loneliness bubble-wraps zipping crowds
the static shakedown only enervates the fizzling agitation
the throbbing synapses twine and strain wirelessly-strung necks
avid finger-painting beings tap-tap bids for arid immanence..
hand-me-down-dreams hermetically steal for foamy noggin goatheads
bifurcating lives fold their souls beaming lickened blackened glass
the welded hand hovers to voraciously snack on vapour trails
whilst whisking other presences to dazed simulacrum at half-mast..
so an imperial octopus walks into a bar
nothing happens..
so the imperial octopus uploads itself stealing a phone
and all experiential hell breaks loose..
treadmills power anthills on landfills of embalmed mirrors
so why take the forked road down to triffids but not up to daffodils
such hills welcome the lost and lonely formerly forlorn and forsaken
and may re-establish the awareness of a kinder and more real connection..
and a few coins drop on and around him
gifts lobbed wingless hit..hit..hit..
oftentimes with so little warning
bronze/silver pebbles skim and dash the concrete flags
dully flash then land near his hat near his feet near his sign
his eyes unevenly fluttering open sting
hypervigilance snake and stalk his sleep..
a whispery thank you for your service
and he hates himself
hates himself that once-upon-a-time he also believed
he nods and drifts
some of his comrades still take their own lives
as do enemy comrades theirs
marionettes shed crocodile tears
pass on to posterity the collection tray
self-mythologising lies silvery scythes..
their voices and their faces
their voices and their faces..
are his..
thank you for your service
his slower suicide sips him away
one drink at a time
churns and within his throat burns and returns
their voices and their faces
their voices and their faces
ripple ripped..
some of the many fallen have yet to fall
only a matter of time
another facebook rip-post in the pipeline
a link to a favourite song
a mournful emoji to a martyr
thanks you for your service..
but never speak of..or..
such careless talk must never spill
you are tough so the so-called trauma will fade
you enjoyed travel and you must have learned
a useful trade
so why not think of it that way
you can reintegrate..
their voices and their faces
their voices and their faces..
where..
he feels more kinship with those who walk past him
he feels helpless pity for the earnest younger men now deceived
the reprinted glossy brochures sew ideas
in pliable minds like dough to knead
for mourners to draw bead on rosaries
and to the roar of the deafening silence
the abandoned truth abducted missing in action
cast low with replenished buy-it-now trinkets
and for a widow a pension and a polished casket reflecting..
asked to move away for safety
as an urban gardener sprays herbicide on pavement weeds
he retreats further after a threat from a charlatan not to violate his patch
or run the risk of getting his face profoundly keyed
so he stumbles to the alleyway to the side of the store
and in the alcove for the bins he recedes and weeps..
the object moved so very slowly
so unearthly it seemed as it floated up the street
the dawn chorus fell so silent
and sealed the stillness so completely
and so uniquely for even the supermarket owl stared transfixed
and i could only catch my breath through a sieve
and to challenge myself witnessing such phenomenon
three times i pinched myself to reconfirm the experience was real
for moving closer the craft seemed to resolve into a 3d-oblong
and vibrating and sounding like a distant vacuum cleaner
it swayed and lilted ever so gently
i surmised perhaps it was experiencing difficulty
phasing in and out of our dimensionality..
..
glinting off the baffled dawn light
so luminous its sides shone like rippling liquid glass
and across one side in green and black and white
were depicted strangely joyful pictographical symbols
pressed on the synthetic surfaces of its power packs
and as it began to move ever closer still
there..
there was the distinct outline of a type of being
the being peered out piloting
the being wore a visor half-covering its face
the being pressed something on a console
and an orb light projected out illuminating the surrounding space
and the vehicle slowly faded away..
before you ask
no i dare not reveal to anyone my close encounter
though elderly folk still whisper of ancient visitation myths
but at least now i know this for sure
milk floats and milk float-fairy folk still exist..
Speculative, metaphysical, comedy and satirical poetry and lyrics by Suki Spangles. Officially the world's first post-rock poet!