Confronting the Danger of Art

Confronting the Danger of Art, a poetry pamphlet written by me and illustrated by Phil Cooper, is available to order from Sidekick Books today. It's styled like a government information booklet from the 70s/80s, such as the nuclear guide Protect and Survive, and envisages a society that has decided artistic expression is so dangerous it needs to be suppressed. The anti-art arguments employed in the first chapter of the book are based on those used by Plato in Boox X of The Republic. I thoroughly enjoyed writing it, maybe there's a career for me in propaganda, and Phil's artwork is witty and cool. More info at http://www.drfulminare.com/dangerofart.php

Sometimes The World Is Too Beautiful

Sometimes The World Is Too Beautiful follows the life of a Mississippi poet, from early mistakes (the hacking up of a turtle to make a comb for his mother) through to marriage, children, divorce, a love affair, and concluding with the death of his parents. Some mistakes are learned from - following his debacle with the turtle the poet develops a deep affinity with the natural world, often very beautifully expressed ("Yesterday, pruning azalea bushes, / A female cardinal let / Me look into her brown eyes"). Others, perhaps chiefly that most Luciferian of flaws, pride, persist, see him summoning monkey demons, or, lost in life's maze, shouting for a confrontation with the Minotaur that never comes. The writing is lucid, evocative of powerful emotion, often of an almost shockingly high standard. Though this book is perhaps especially for those who "... sense the dilemma of the rare, lost ones, / Who yet can't embrace any belief simply / To save themselves--", the quality of the poetry will speak to everyone.

Dr Faustus, White Bear, Kennington

My brother has a production of Dr Faustus running at the White Bear, Kennington from 27th Sept - 2nd Oct 2011. I created the flier for it with help from my doggie.

The Holograms

Before Casper we were a quantum band,
an act that only happened when unobserved.
Our drummer maintained we'd split
the world, then took a full-time position
in PR. Auditioning his replacement
round our Crouch End front room,
with his white vest, buffed All-Stars
and holographic principle patter,
Casper shone. ‘These,’ he said,
nodding at his drumheads,
‘are my event horizons;
it's where the beat really happens.’
To prove it, he worked up an almighty storm,
while we puffed on our cigarettes.
Short of a singer, Casper made a call.
Yume Shirakawa, he explained,
would beam in her performance. Jay,
sliding milk down his thin throat,
looked pleased. Dispatched to Budgens,
strangely, no complaints. We jammed.
Matter grew vague, the days came and went.
First gig, a full house, but no sign
of Yume, whom we’d still never seen.
Plugging into our amps, tweaking
Volume, Gain, she appeared, silk-clad,
like a switch had been thrown. Turning
our three dimensional selves to the crowd,
who thought we were actually there?

The Absinthe Room

It is the green hour when my love arrives;
shrugging off life's bristling threads,
her exquisite liquid nakedness,
she soothes my brow with sweet palms
chill as iced water, her visage
milky opalescence, la louche, where
wild scents bloom: crisp fennel;
rich anise; wormwood.

Do you sleep? I know the evening
and the metal dawn. I work with
absolute materials: everything
and nothing.

A dreaming drowned man,
my mistress, glacial sage,
of such delicate health
she must sleep behind
UV-proof glass.

Suddenly the window is white.
Too much sun; the rush that burns.
Her fading footsteps.

I know a pure, clear-headed love.

Confronting the Danger of Art

Introductory page from Confronting the Danger of Art, a pamphlet I've created with artist Phil Cooper for Sidekick Books.

Retrato de Armando Seijo

University documentary on the painter Armando Seijo I helped produce.