STOLEN SUN:
News flash! Sun no longer shines on Essex – Police informed,
Birmingham suspected, panic ensues as suntans recede.
(K)
Saturday 11th May
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Author Archives: karlhyde
Friday 10th May
THE IRON BONES OF INDUSTRY STAND PROUD IN THE SUN:
The weeds & all the dirt looks beautiful, feeling brand new,
polished to perfection. Celebrate a double birthday by cruising,
listening to Rodion G.A. ‘The Lost Tapes’, would love to
meet the man behind the sound in Bucharest.
(K)
Thursday 9th May
RIDING THE EMERALD CITY EXPRESS:
As we practise leaving Winter, tentatively casting off our
cautionary layers we set off to town like factory fortnighters
heading for the seaside. Are we forgetting that you have to know
which side of the carriage to sit on or you’ll get burnt. Don’t
want to arrive at our business destinations all loose-tied & fried,
so, forgo the stink-n-glow & sit on the opposite side to the sun.
Today, you’ll find me in the shade reading ‘Black Mountain Days’ by
Michael Rumaker, listening to Billy Bragg’s ‘Don’t Try This at Home’
(K)
Wednesday 8th May
A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER:
It’s raining light like spring up on the heads of the valley.
A good place to hide, but not today, a better place to connect
with something good & focus. Reading John Lancaster’s
‘What we talk about when we talk about the Tube’
(K)
Tuesday 7th May
CONE ALONE:
A day practising turning off the head that went so-so.
Nailing billboard shreds to the studio walls, waiting
for the dance of black marks to begin. Running the paper
through my head all day, watching orchestral shapes
collide with sunlight & the sound of a single bee.
(K)
Monday 6th May
CANVEY ISLAND:
Canvey Island, home of Dr Feelgood, Thames Delta, Oil Town.
Counting tattoos in the sun – The cross of St John, bikini girl
in blue, Celtic runes, outstretched wings between the shoulder
blades, two crossed swords. Momma feeds baby in an XL Beatles
tee, baby winces, momma feeds baby his first icecream, everybody
rocks back laughing. Mine’s a 99, mine’s a bucket n spade,
two mugs o tea darlin’ & a Coke,
“Sausage Sandwich!!!”.
Girls stagger to the shore cleaning cut toes in the river,
down at the crabbing pool children stoop & peer into the water
waiting like snipers, hearts scratched into the concrete curves
of the sea wall. Dogs pause at washing bowls laid down for them
& drink as cargo ships cut lazy waves slipping upstream to London.
Across the other side, Kent is green & sunlit like a Miyazaki
dream, a single chimney towering surreal above the far horizon
& were we to go over there & look we’d find it hanging midair,
rooted in nothing but imagination.
(K)
Sunday 5th May
IMPRESSIONISTIC DOG:
Took the bike out on the back roads of Essex in the early sun.
Bird song, pheasant, crow, the hissing of hedgerows shimmering
in a light breeze, the lazy hum of jets cruising high overhead.
The soundscape to this film hasn’t changed since I lay in long
grass as a summer boy.
(K)
Saturday 4th May
WILD CHOCOLATE SPOON:
I found you late last night, dancing under spotlights
in the bowl of dreams, Van Gogh flames leaping from your feet
as you laughed, beckoning. Everybody lit up, eyes wide, twitching,
counting down in whispers to the unveiling of your creation.
(K)
Friday 3rd May
Thursday 2nd May
ONE FOOT GOES DOWN:
And then the other, day of dog in the studio, already too hot
to think outdoors – this is great country for keeping this boy
indoors & making new stuff all day.
(K)
Karl Hyde 