BLOG POST NUMBER 3333, BE ANIMAL

this is BLOG POST NUMBER 3333

this seems like a landmark
that needs an announcement
but its only numbers

seems a good point to suspend
the blog for the holidays
normal service will continue soon

hatchbacksonfire.blogspot.com

also listen to the
Alternate Stories & Fake Realities
Midwinter Monologues podcast

i am in it, innit

https://www.buzzsprout.com/411730?s=30
https://linktree/AlternateStories?s=03

~

BE ANIMAL

animals are naked 

they own themselves

we are meat runes to them

& thats ok -

we can still be friends

tho our cups 

are busted 

into logo dust

~

i fiddle with minutiae

in the mornings feint 

rome burning 

the best violins

THE RHYME OF THE ANCIENT MARINADE, AN OFF-CUT POP

well theres that 

& the laminated collage of eyes

he sees there 

  looking 

    looking

      LOOKING

where they said the tunnel & light should be

land ho ?

he wonders

anciently marinated

in

sea salt & grimwald 

SOULS ON WAX

recordings & headphones
take the afternoon away

gone musicians knew this

it why they put

their souls on wax

to ground me 

to lift me

with this the common miracle

with this the peoples magic

IN MY COLLAPSED BULK

 

i talk 
& gone relatives echo
in my tone & word choice
in my habit & repetition

i sit
in the tired armchair
& gone relatives reverb & sync
into my collapsed bulk

& the small scissors 

worrying at the hangnails
& the torn burs 

of my anxious 

devil fingers

well someone else used to do that too

BARTER TOWN ON ACID, A FESTIVAL POP

blasted faces 

& new morning eyes

search for bearings 

& a gist

in the humid bacon mist 

~

campfire smoke hangs

like battle vestige

over barter town on acid

robots in the rain

watching me piss

100 years ago

UNHAPPY WITH TROUSERS, AN OFF-CUT POEM

 

& all the children

their innocence hurts you 

                reminds you 

of when you were car badge height
     unhappy with trousers

     &
     they dont know 

     they just dont know

AN ANALOGY STRETCH, DREAM STEALER

to doggy paddle 

in baby riptides 

under a Munch oil sun

to tread water 

at the reefs end

below O Keefe clouds

to splash & thrash

in the harbour mouth  

apollos polaroid moon above

between the sinking & scuppering

  you 

     call 

         your

             sleep

~

& pushing the analogys stretch

   & its plastic elastic limit

      its the

m i d n i g h t  s a l v a g e  r i g h t s 

         that should concern you

TYPER IN THE WAY

ego was so epic

he had to put it out  

out there in the front yard

just to get a clean breath

& the rag & bone men

well they rang their hand bell

& they took it away

~

& Plastic Zen was born 

Id in the ice box

   music player on

   typer in the way

SANDINISTA CRASH COURSE AMEN

 

that preening peacock pop 

on the top-pops viddy tube

never spoke to me back then 

singing out their noses

singing like theyre bored

adverts for cocaine & yachts 

~

thank holy-be-fuck 

for the clash tapes

stickered & stacked  

in the woolworths bargain basket

sandinista - my musical crash course

amen

PREP THE GREEN SCREEN SCREAM

 

   the

   cat

his shadows 

are like almost cgi

& such hi-res is migraine alert

encrypted 

upload 

incoming 

prep the green screen scream

~

the kaleidoscope vice 

the icy panorama 

i can smell cabbage / weed / sulphur

theres a truth in migraine

revelation in the glitches

somewhere

yes

 

photo - i can see you seeing me

FIRE PITS CRACKED TUMBLE

when afternoon touches evening

four fox cubs play rough & fleet

on our lawn & chairs

& still as a post behind the fir trunk

one parent watches

blended in shadow & brown 

& as the dusk crowds the skys vignette 

she returns to bury 

the food our cat rejected

in
our
fire
pits
cracked tumble

& in the wild wild corner 

kept abandoned

in hope

for bees

ALL CHANNELS ALL NETS

back door diktat tsunami 

coffee-curtains morning-wide

NHS is stealth-sold emperors fast-fashion 

meat grinder
all channels
all nets

facts mangled in the truth grate

NI hatchbacks on fire
across the border-no-border sea

champagne pops on dead cherry hill

foam & fizz 

that could / should house the blanket damned

TELL IT TO THE DUST

 

tell it to the dust 

no - cross-examine the dust

& headline-shout any results

in identikit bulletin foam

all channels

all nets

drones drop-off my lab-coffee

on the undead plastic lawn

~

if the past is another country

like  

    they  

        say  

it makes us all exiles

like the moon is

from earthy green

SANDCASTLE DREAMS

sandcastle dreams
lose their edges
in
the
life wind & tide

wet bog now

of sewage taint moats

just like that - nature teaches no

ONLY WHITE SHIRTS HAVE RED BLOOD

 

horror film remake
is b-movie dust

pointless back then

it has a home now

context achieved thru time

& its divorce from hype

i ponder & wonder & stretch

i lift the veil - yes

into the minutia dungeon

& i pick at my feet there
far from poughkeepsie

again its only white shirts

that are red with blood

HE SENT A POSTCARD 1994

i keep on keeping on

sam andrew told me to

he sent a postcard
1994

then i had little on to keep

then i just rode the clock

& sams gone now

but still i say it all the time now

~

i keep on keeping on

storm drain child
now a real boy  

bursting with yesterdays

too late

& 

swollen with the future burn

too soon

but i have on to keep now

on to keep on keeping on

PARAPHRASING & NOT IN THE SAME BALLPARK

epstein
had
an
egg-shaped cock

i cant unhear this so now neither can you

this was from a court hearing
epstein walked out


~


madonna pisses in the shower
for athletes foot prevention

i cant unhear this so now neither can you

this was on the radio

its all i remember she said

BLADE RUNNER RAIN

i am a meat popsicle
in a fucktown ubermart

&

theres blade runner rain
in the grey-spray dawn

&

a blanket man sits

where the mothers huddle

with the red-trench news

in

a 

mast-pinged 

chip-scanned

laminated cave 

of 

tracked drek-tat & kipple

~

well my thin signal needs a boost

needs a test 

     to provoke 

          an emotional 

               r e s p o n s e

~

& mast-pinged 

& chip-scanned

in the laminated cave

i

grab

a

three quid meal-deal *

for 

the
blanket man outside

sat in the blade runner rain

the grey paint dawn

lit weak orange now

with a slim neon stripe

*

( green packaging -

  salt & vinegar crisps

  sprite etc

  as green is meant to be calming 

  altho he says -

  'i will eat anything me' )

QUID PRO QUO STATUS CHAOS

 

his gold wheelgun
lost its yellow
in
the
flat
blast
of texas noon

~

hells here

quid pro quo 

status chaos

everyone - whet your scythe

ITS METAL SCREAMS

the dust trucks
orange lights blink 
across the books in here

its a pale light

with nothing to say

not charged with anything

perfect for me / for monday morning

divine breath today

is somewhere elses wind

~

its a tired beast 
&

its metal screams

for rest / for lube

& for our shiny discharge

OUR GLOBE THEIR WHACKAMOLE

the hungry pile up
against the contractors fences

one way cash
nowhere people

need a cow catcher mama
to clear a red carpet path

~

our globe

 

their iphone whackamole

if that

LEADEN MY BELLY

the accelerator stream
out the hand-glass
&
the pox-vox-pops 

out the circus vents

leaden my belly
& take the light

out my dreamed mountain view

~

brain rot

bring it

reality got bent

THE STASIS IDES

its all vicarious

judgement like cinder blocks

compassion blue-rizla thin

fighting pits streaming seats

thats where we are

~


i cling to the middle of the month

when nothing moves 

inside the bank apps 

low-ball pixel glimmer

like theres hope in stasis . . .

thats where we are

photo - Finger in B&W from the Dagenham Archive

THE FALL GUY KNEW

 

impossible 

to overstate

the benefits

of moving water & outside air

three hours by a stream

in orchard shade

~

or like the fall guy

bath tub outside

his forest shack

a cigar

hat on low

tv-big foam

soaking away the pain

photo - Cluster Pine from the Dagenham Archive

RETAINING THE MANTRA JAG

theres words in the shower

a poesy tsunami clarity roll 

moving water a trigger ?
whatever - dont question it

you get out careful-fast

foolish fall on your mind

repeating 

the collapsing madness 

desperate 

to cling to just enough

of the 

raining mantra jag

to

go

on

photo - Glimmer from the Dagenham Archive

BUTTON DOWN POCKET OF HAND-ME-DOWN FLARES

when i was a small me
i read some books about a kid

with a special key & a magic cat

i might be recalling it wrong
i might not be telling it right

but i remember 

being compelled 

to attempt the same 

i acquired an orphan key 

to a long gone mortice lock

& i carried it inside 

a button-down pocket

of my hand-me-down flares

always worried i would lose it 

&

the only cat i knew

was a sack of alley scratch hisses

& 

the magic

is here now

in the rosy gem

of hinterland hindsight

photo - Edward B&W Fade from the Dagenham Archive

I BLEED THEREFORE I AM TAKE 2

injuries tell a story
scars are coded braille

leap from the milk train
jump off the dormer roof

fall -

       off the hill fence 

        off the weekend goalpost

         out the stormy tree

& carry the proof
into the next working day

i bleed therefore i am


~

& head down 

& drunk
& eyes shut
& running running running
into 

the midnight roads 

mystery traffic

is

just

another

gung-ho anecdote harvest

from the mad blessed days

of 

undeveloped risk aversion

photo Kill Your Speed from the Dagenham Archive

OLD KINDERHOOK GAGAKU

TAKE 1

i try not to judge

unless youre a manson goblin
or a bona fide nazi mistake

or doing the tv stupid 

theres always a new lexicon afoot

to keep me up on my split toes

'its ok not to be ok' they say

yes 

but then 

what DOES ok mean ?

maybe i am just old 

anal & flat & cold

TAKE 2

but i agree / why not why not ?

it is ok to not be ok

i am open & i try not to judge

unless youre a manson goblin
or bona fide nazi mistake
or doing the tv stupid

maybe i am just old

swamped & tired of bailing

in the mysteries of speech

or 

just anal 

just flat 

just cold

photo - Lamp Shade No Shade from the Dagenham Archives

A SECULARIST REVELATION

look at the physics go !

he exclaimed

his vape cloud
a beautiful whirl

kinetic
in
a
sun cracked curtain

photo - Silver Opening from the Dagenham Archive

WITH A SIMPLER MIND

to be once again
a kid on a bike

moving always moving

or always ready to

with traffic to dodge

&

alley corners to risk

looking for something

looking for anything

from the wooded hills

to

the flat estuary marsh

~

motion made a trouble-mind simple

thru kinesis or thru taxis

i dont which -

i had sweets down my sock

for eating under hedges

waiting out the rain

photo - Outdoors Remembered from the Dagenham Archive