Monday 31st December

Posted on December 31, 2012 by karlhyde

THANK YOU FOR THE DAZE TO COME:

Sun sets on the city, the beacon of St Paul’s illuminates for revelling

stumblers to navigate streets abandoned by the sun, like it was the

last night on earth. Thank you all for an unprecedented,

unexpected & extraordinary year.

Next …

(K)

Sunday 30th December

Posted on December 30, 2012 by karlhyde

WHAT’S THAT NOISE?:

Got this growing desire to hear new music that’s raw & rough & vibrant.

Visceral, unpolished, songs, lyrics from the gut & a beat that takes

no prisoners.

(K)

Saturday 29th December

Posted on December 29, 2012 by karlhyde

STREET THEATRE:

Watched an old oak frozen in the stance of it’s last dance

like a Shinjuku grotesque from a Daido Moriyama photograph –

street dancers staggering between traffic in black & white.

Wandered around in the dark at 2:00am searching for sleep.

Typed letters to friends where it was still yesterday & nearly

tomorrow. Found a quiet place away the taunts of sleepers

breathing rhythms, made a nest of blankets & a rendezvous

with exhausting dreams.

(K)

Thursday 27th December

Posted on December 27, 2012 by karlhyde

DOWN THE OLE DOG N CAGE:

In the silence before the household wakes, me & a dog in a cage respectfully don’t communicate. Sunrise, hidden though it is by thick cloud, casts milky light on us both. I catch it’s eye, it bangs an optimistic rhythm on the bars with it’s tail. We both know how much we want to walk, let the cold air lift us with it’s damp slap, leave our thick heads amongst the hawthorn scribble, walk & don’t look back. The dog wines, rattles it’s cage, gets restless, the pipes hiss, people shower, someone belches, sneezes, the house is waking. I feel time for quiet meditation, slip away, yet still enough for inward reflection & with it laughter at the serious face I find in the mirror this morning.

(K)

Wednesday 26th December

Posted on December 26, 2012 by karlhyde

IS THAT YOUR GRAT HE CHEWED?:

Resisting all temptation he stepped back & watched beloved puddings

disappear, enjoyed instead the happiness of revellers in paper crowns.

The games of charades & cards, the laughter of reunited families from

past years was replaced by solitary collisions with crystal balls,

tiny electronics connected some to worlds beyond. As families gathered

to reacquaint themselves with the healing sound of one other’s laughter,

some were conspicuous by absence, leaving only shells bearing vague

resemblances to their former selves. At sunrise he was drawn back to the

alter, the table laid with morning fare. Hung over from the cheese pickle,

but happy to be once more surrounded by such wonderful faces.

(K)

Tuesday 25th December

Posted on December 25, 2012 by karlhyde

PEAS ON EARTH:

The banquet is set upon the table, all guests are gathered round,

expectation on each face with radiant smiles beneath paper hats

& joyous laughter the festival of exquisite culinary delights returns

to town.

The Radio plays Bing & Andy, Slade & Wizard, but today I find

a different space in Mosckus.

(K)

Monday 24th December

Posted on December 24, 2012 by karlhyde

THE DAY IT STOPPED RAINING:

The tribes of the north gather in the sarf baring gifts & smiles.

Explosive conversations, unification questions, rooms flood

with information, rhythms bouncing off the walls that few

will see. Families re-united with hello hallelujahs in the rain.

(K)

Sunday 23rd December

Posted on December 23, 2012 by karlhyde

COUNTRY STYLE:

The ceaseless rain falls onto fields, fields turn into sponges,

empty into country lanes, roads become rivers, homes become

islands, families stranded, a simple trip to the shops becomes

impossible, neighbours become life savers, lifelines to essential

supplies & city folk appreciate the beauty of battered LandRovers.

(K)

Saturday 22nd December

Posted on December 22, 2012 by karlhyde

CASTLES MADE OF SAND:

This is for the courier who gave me the thumbs up,

the gallery who sold another painting, the beautiful person

who bought it & got the story behind the title. This is for the voice

on the phone of a struggling friend who wanted it all to end but

joined me in laughter, the friends who shared their lunch

with me, fellow travellers of stage & screen just the sight of whose

faces raised my spirits. The tireless Birthday Boy, the Man of Light,

the shredded man scratching at the strings of a broken guitar on

Embankment Bridge & the happy drunks tumbling along luminous

streets. This is for William Klein & Daido Moriyama whose exhibition

at the Tate Modern reminded me not to be so slack, for Marty St James

who makes art that inspires me & for the marks you leave for me to find

to let me know you’re still around.

(K)

Friday 21st December

Posted on December 21, 2012 by karlhyde

DAY TWO OF ANOTHER END OF THE WORLD:

A north London taxi exposed it’s self to me discretely, dressed as

a bumble bee, concealing it’s identity beneath a blue plastic mac,

preserving it’s modesty A warehouse full of artists & musicians greeted

me with serious coffee & improvised cinemas. Nests of exotic guitar pedals

spilled out from beneath radiators, tiny Parisian dogs played keyboards

& drummers shook my hand with fists like sandpaper steel.

I’ve meet some extraordinary people, gifted musicians, talented artists,

enthusiastic, hard working & all of them friendly. People I never knew

existed until I slipped outside the castle gates & waved.

(K)

Karl Hyde

Author Archives: karlhyde