Wednesday 16th April

Posted on April 16, 2014 by karlhyde

SILVER PAPER SUIT TRAIN:

“Cats go to Heaven” mutters the woman on the train beneath

a man’s voice talking loud into his hand.

He laughs to an invisible woman concealed between his fingers,

“I got up at 4:00 to get everything done!” he boasts in a

suit of silver paper, chatting her up, hair cut sharp, phone

protected in a little leather case with a little leather flap.

He’s impressive with his devotion to the job.

In the noise beneath him, the mumbling woman drones, addressing

sweet smelling day trip women, wide-eyed and smiling into the sun,

“He’s not aggressive, he’s never been aggressive. He loves

water, he used to love the river at the bottom of the garden,

sit with his paws in it. Somedays we’d find him lay in

the shower, he’d always been a little odd, but never aggressive.”

(K)

Tuesday 15th April

Posted on April 15, 2014 by karlhyde

THAT RHYTHMIC HUM:

The Rhythmic hum of muted phones concealed in

Mothers bags under seats switched to silent.

Traveling in diamond light.

(K)

Monday 14th April

Posted on April 14, 2014 by karlhyde

SPRING BREAK:

He’s heading down to Florida, cruising round the Bahamas

with the boys.

“We bought the beer & wine package!” he said, laughing.

His girlfriend’s gone to Chicago.

“Oh, there’s a girlfriend is there?”

“Yeah, no flies on her”

(K)

Sunday 13th April

Posted on April 13, 2014 by karlhyde

IMAGINED SOUNDS:

Neil’s Foot steps on the Moon in the rain. An Old valve radio

hissing in the cupboard beneath the stairs. Morse code, shipping,

the soothing undulations of the electric surf.

(K)

Saturday 12th April

Posted on April 12, 2014 by karlhyde

THE SHARP & COLD HOTEL:

Dew on the grass in the morning, sharp and cold, makes you feel

more alive than colour.I woke up in a place with offensive art

on the walls, there’s a lot of it! How could you be so prolific

with something so disturbing?

(K)

Friday 11th April

Posted on April 11, 2014 by karlhyde

WHITE AND BLUE:

Cherry Blossom polka-dots blacktop on genteel leafy city streets,

perhaps unnoticed by the cat-walking eyes concealed behind this

season’s shades. Cherry blossom childhood memories of

Worcestershire’s fields, nature’s thrill, waiting at the bus stop

with Mom in the sun. Brutal bus stop architecture, new generation

of manhole covers and mysterious electricity boxes sprout as the

future encroached upon our 1960’s town. The wonders of the deep

south cavort on the far side of the TV bubble. London and it’s

fabulous courtesans taunt, “you will never come here!”

Cherry Blossom polka-dots blacktop on genteel leafy streets,

Spring rolling north to the Arctic Circle, leaves us blinking

in the road before the juggernaut of Summer. I photograph the

blossom, the white against blue, preserve a memory on file that

this year once had a gentler side.

(K)

Thursday 10th April

Posted on April 10, 2014 by karlhyde

LIFE IN A NORTHERN TOWN:

All the buildings wait obedient in muted colours, stare across

the water with distant eyes. We don’t want to cause trouble,

don’t mean to disturb, don’t want to shake your tree,

just leave & slip un-noticed down immaculate streets.

(K)

Wednesday 9th April

Posted on April 9, 2014 by karlhyde

IS THAT YOUR DADDY?:

Your figure is a cartoon, men go stupid when they see it.

There’s no shame in that, well, at least not today.

With a Moonstone face that could fit in the palm of a hand,

you say nothing, look around, waiting at a table after hours

with that man, at a bar between sleeping houses.

(K)

Tuesday 8th April

Posted on April 8, 2014 by karlhyde

AT THE SETTING OF THE SUN:

As I rode the train out of the city last night

surrounded by tired faces, knees squeezed against

one another, bags & lap tops piled on legs &

fast food snacking mouths imbibing coffee hits to

make it home awake, I watched the sun set on another

day. A day in which a 25 year old had woken up but

hadn’t made it to sunset – a tragedy beyond.

A mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister gone.

No parent should ever have to bury their child.

Our thoughts fall miserably short in support of

a dear friend as the sun rises on just another day.

(K)

Monday 7th April

Posted on April 7, 2014 by karlhyde

NEW YORK DREAM:

I dreamed a famous singer, living in New York, read

my words out loud like a blessing. Anointing the air

with familiar tone, the room relaxed around him.

I started to unwind, feel good, as he welcomed me

with benevolent smiles and hand to indicate a chair

beside him. Discerned an strange sensation in my chest

I realised I’d held my breath for years and now was

breathing.

(K)

Karl Hyde

Category Archives: Diary