okay you can shadow me for a bit
but you will need to help me
could you pay close attention
to punctuation
every time i type
/
you switch a light on
and you tip it
off
if i type this \
not sure i have any advice
but
as i say
you can follow / and
maybe having company will help
if we can get in sync
everything
feels a bit
\ unhinged /
lately
did you begin
with the light yet
or did you just think it
off unhinged on
you scroll but
the point is we might be able to
keep a grip
if we
\ /
cooperate
it could be a kind of disco
\/\/\/ strobe
and we could dance
if you just
\ /
thanks
it might seem disruptive
the sudden dark \
/ you should read ahead
so when the light goes
you are not left
\
adrift
/
this thing about paying attention
to lights
i learned
as a trick
it helps to register
the difference between
dreaming \ /
and reality
if you can keep a check
on incidental gesture
and whether
things display \/\/\/ normal behaviour \/\/\/
i
e
strobing or
not responding \
shadows or
nothing happening /
it becomes possible to
lucid dream
that is
see that you are dreaming
if light goes \ awry
like i said
not advice but
it has been a struggle lately
to keep traction with reality
i thought
/ cue light
maybe together we can
keep score and
try it
\
/
how are the shadows
if you jut your hips
side to side
like this
\
/
\
do the shadows perform
if yes
/
chances are we are awake
there are other gestures
that check
\/ normal behaviour \/
are you still at the light switch
it is about to get more complex
look
this little glyph
*
the asterisk
sometimes signifies a footnote
but in this case
check your wrist for a watch
or look to your phone
tell the time
maybe on a digital radio
use your initiative
keep it close
to the light switch
it will be easy to distinguish
\ /
from
*
one to check shadows
the next to check seconds
* * *
are they regular
the advantage of digital is you can
\
*
/
read it in the dark
you might want to put some music on now
i usually do
to \ block out / the sound
of baby sensory class
downstairs from the studio
on a tuesday
every week they sing
say hello to the sun
*
shining down on me
\
i mask it with my own playlist
all about horses
/
all the wild horses in the sun
*
howm i sposed to get any writing done
\
the lyric is actually
riding
but as far as i know
dylan never had to compete with
baby sensory songs
/
another punctuation
to add to the surveillance
of shadows and seconds
–
imagine the trouble dickinson would have
without the dash
bridging between thoughts
take two fingers
press them against the skin
beneath the hinge of your jaw
we can try it in duet
every –
check your pulse for irregularity
forever – is composed of nows –
tis not a different time –
except for infiniteness –
and latitude of home –
from this – experienced here –
remove the dates – to these –
let months dissolve in further months –
and years – exhale in \
enough dickinson /
your pulse must be
well checked
did you notice
there is so much rock music
about horses
becomes something
when they are collated
but in general
i am not a fan of horses
*
i watch the baby class
from the cctv
but not lately
are you keeping up
the baby class is not important
just part of a routine but
things have become more tricky \
since i no longer have access to the studio
/
it is one of the reasons your help is welcome
think i am losing my grip
*
on tuesday i emailed the others
a link
to the sun song
happy tuesday kids
i almost miss it
\
on monday
my sibling – scores through –
all the days that have changed
so would this have been monday the twenty third
i will say it again
things are slipping
/
in musical notation
asterisk
marks the release of the sustain pedal \
/ after a period of depression
or in liturgical music
special notation keeps the congregation
singing in unison
the asterisk denotes a deliberate pause
in the wilderness *
is the example on forums dot catholic dot com
my flatmates all share a speaker
pair our devices by bluetooth –
this week i switched it on in the kitchen
it started broadcasting something about
domestic violence in a foreign language –
latitude of home
what a line
someone is leaning really far out and
*clapping* from their window
sounds like
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
i miss the postcards in my studio
one from a screening event
muybridge measuring apparatus but –
no horses –
also
a still from flash
in the metropolitan
and a page photocopied
\ / mmmmmmmmm \ /
describes how akerman
gave protagonists
agency switching lights
\ off and
/ on
like theatre spots
it is true
lights are rarely switched in film
unless the genre is
horror also asterisk
is sometimes used to denote a wildcard
or to censor expletives
they are at it again
clapping at the window
*
in the park
the exercise equipment
is bound in \ plastic tape /
there has been an accident
or crime though
no damage –
and looks like it has been applied in haste
also chalk on tarmac
i see a cluster
above the bandstand
there is a large sun
*
say hello happy tuesday
yellow beams on asphalt
but
i notice its features
are set in \ an acute scowl /
each ray eclipsed by a nodule –
looks like a hedgehog
from childhood parties –
half a citrus upturned and skewered
with pieces of cheese and pineapple
*
oh i realise now
it is an angry virus
\
in january
someone told me
their resolution was to
recalibrate their relationship with time *
i recently bought a watch but /
do not wind it
my flatmate suggests
a russian drinking game
all clocks are removed
then everyone drinks
on waking
all have to guess
the time and day
things feel unsteady
though we have not started playing yet
*
i need to set up
new systems for telling time
when i moved in to this flat
the letting agent said
so you are taking the attic room
like anne frank
\ not only reality
also some
people are really
unhinged /
did we get the hang of it
all these gestures
are they helping
one last one
:
pinch yourself
dot dot with your finger and
thumb on your arm
is this reality
do you feel that :
my sibling is on the phone
crossing a mire
like a minor bronte
the lapwings are making a racket on the line while
i am in lidl
standing at the yellow and black
tape in the aisle
– one coffin length –
apart from the bald man but
someone is looking at biscuits
shelved between us
disrupts our \ perfect interval /
i am going to put you in my pocket
while i jump this bog
full of petrol
\
i am waiting for the conveyor belt
thinking about giotto / the shopping queue
everyone in profile :
pigeons scratched in plaster
banners overhead
tea coffee confectionary
they made it over the bog
forgot the date
signed something
2020
\
i dont do it much
but some people use punctuation
to make faces
: – /
and
: – *
blowing you a kiss
or pinch pulse wrist
in terms of gesture
look at you : almost fluent
–
there is another song
marks the end * of baby
sensory class
wave goodbye goodbye wave goodbye
and the last verse :
shh shh shhhhhhh
shh shh
shh shh shhhhhhh
shh shh
shh shh shhhhhhh shhhhhh shhhhhh
\
on tuesdays
i used to hear them all
hushing through the studio floor
/
a friend told me their neighbour
changed the name of their wifi
to a declaration of love
i thought :
what a reckless act
i want to try it
measured the range of our signal
down the common stairwell –
it only reached so far
then cut out
\
an intimate audience but
i thought of a way to broadcast further
outside and across the street
morse code
like in parasite
but less sinister
a quick flash
a dot / \
and a long one
a dash / \
we can separate letters with lines
leave a long pause
/ \ / \
/ \ / \ / \ / \
/ \ / \ / \
/ \ / \ / \ / \
/ \
/ \ / \ / \ / \
/ \ / \ / \
/ \ / \ / \
survival skills
i think you will be okay
