spinning toy
the night seems
so swiftly
on the move
waxing moon light
clouds in convoy
their silent fleet
so full and rapid
fills night sky
so immense
weightless
billowed riding
overhead
in silent procession
like a child’s
spinning toy
the vertigo
of days
leaves us
staggering
for night
as the moon
awaits the sun
we wait
glowing ends of cigarettes
light the passing
night
time fading
as piano
notes cascade
dying to silence
waiting for rhythm to
propel it back to life
as words wait
for the tongue
we wait for
the next thought
dreams made thought
wishes made well
acts of worship
in the careless and lost
the discarded and
half remembered
chants and prayers
invocations under the stars
scarifications in the
arms of lovers
wistful and wasted
moving above the earth
keeping sense of place
time and scale
advancing across night
to march or die
an army of spinning toys
we are the recurring motif
the swell and crescendo
improvised notes
composing ourselves
Mabuse Variations I – IV
fever dream
(transformation dub)
injected eyes gasping
swell
melt alter
pale shaken
groping
restored from death
man
is not one
but
truly two
powers grown tormented flesh
language
of pain
and anguish
intense
bending
the dark
inner side of self
soul causeless hatred
evolution
degeneration
raging energies of life
angels
vampires
the same
merland dub
broken in or broken down
on blue brick shadow
side of the street
just past the station
all the folks
wear a frown
you can hear the
tide sigh your name
spring on the sands
the old rides are
brought out in hope
and prayer for the sun
and a couple of pounds
the great story of murder
madness, sex and
death
on the sands
mirror to the
darkness beating
inside the chest
seaside myths
ancient roman schemes
a patina of time
pizza menus for wallpaper
architecture of
our utopia
Neil Sparkes @NeilSparkes is a musician, producer, visual artist and poet whose work resonates through both artistic and popular cultural worlds. He has worked around the globe as a Vocalist, Percussionist and Producer; founder member of World music pioneers Temple of Sound and former member of Indie dance group Transglobal Underground. He has worked with Peter Gabriel, The Stranglers, Jah Wobble, Natacha Atlas, Billy Childish, Adrian Sherwood, Loop Guru, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Zion Train, Hossam Ramzy, Los De Abajo, Batucada Sound Machine and Rizwan Muazzam Qawwali amongst many others
As a poet and performer, Sparkes has read and performed widely in the UK, Europe and internationally. His literary work includes collections of his poetry and drawings published by Billy Childish, “All Metal and Other Men’s Wives” and “”Rumba Rumba (Jazz From Hell)”. His work also appears in numerous anthologies. Sparkes latest collection of poetry “Xerox Sonnets and X-Ray Blues” is published by Hesterglock Press in Spring 2020. https://hesterglock.net/Neil-Sparkes
All Text and Images by Neil Sparkes.
Banner Art is an excerpt from: black ocarina
IceFloe Press 