PARALLEL TO RED IN CHORUS
BY
ALISON GIBB
THE KNIVES FORKS AND SPOONS PRESS NEWTON-LE-WILLOWS
Published in the United Kingdom in 2011 by The Knives Forks And Spoons Press, 122 Birley Street Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, WA12 9UN. ISBN 978-1-907812-63-7 Copyright â“’ Alison Gibb, 2011.
The right of Alison Gibb to be identiďŹ ed as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents act of 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher. Acknowledgements: many thanks to Siobhan Campbell, Paul Perry, David Rogers & Todd Swift at Kingston University & to Becky Cremin and Ryan Ormonde for featuring this poem in Beyond Text: Making & Unmaking Text Across Performance Practices & Theories Conference, 2011.
PARALLEL TO RED IN CHORUS
1.
I see a crossroads you walk Parallel to red in chorus Delays a picking fore & Reopen fold upper corners down Her pockets in half lengthwise An off cut of silver crease The wrapper with a number & reopen fold upper 3 4 5 9 0 8 Refold a vessel & the sea Both edges contact blue throughOut forming the wing flaps lift & practise your flying skills & a Small quantity of white a visual Stimulation void of hue & grayness A prism collecting the north an Opulent component is articulate & Brilliant & unrefined an intersection Fluorescent glow 1068 aperture & shutter speed working together Over his image poured white & Reckless grasp at which may Be “correct� inasmuch as standing
2.
0.00
Start out on an unnamed road
The same fine degree of wind sleet & dark Exposure value according to whether you Open up or close down one stop weather Symbols are a great blessing for those who Have no head for numbers cascading torrents Water to record as patterns of blurred streaks on An overcast day in the centre bounced off a nearby Wall looks soft & natural looking I see a man he is Articulate & bright – maybe even vulgar dreamlike Quality most often used for portraits of girls increases Fuzziness towards the edges contact blue throughOut forming is so irredeemably violent that it is Incapable of yielding an alternative to save fuss Put a polythene bag over it is misleading contrary There will be festivals to jostle & cause annoyance
3.
Where a parade or military band approach on the red patch Red flowers wait inasmuch as standing misting the surface 0.01
At the roundabout take the 3rd exit
0.39
Cenotaph
With your breath the sides of the Cenotaph are not parallel But if extended would meet at a point some above ground White layering different sounds on top of each other layering Different sounds on top of each other similarly the "horizontal" Surfaces are in fact sections of a sphere whose centre would 0.41
Below ground
Be illuminated radiant the masters invite her in silver paper Even blue can have an intense brilliance 100-watt Bulb (80A)* 82C 82A silver paper 3 4 5 9 0 8 1p, 1p, 1p, 2p, 5p, 5p, 20p & A small quantity of white the same fine degree of wind sleet & Dark exposure & accumulative less aggressive but just as artful
4.
When they turned out her pockets all they found was a number on A piece of silver paper 35p in change & a small quantity of white Silver paper 345908 1p, 1p, 1p 2p 5p, 5p 20p White 1.48 Continue forward to Upper Ground
5.
Simply polish up with a lick of lipstick made by grinding Cigarette butts in an ashtray allow even subtle details to be Seen one need first find the right stone—ideally swarovski Liquid metals & condense milk on a sheet of glass With pure silver nitrate distilled water & amaryllis dissolve Amaryllis until the mixture goes through metamorphoses Must be boiled & fried on to a very clean piece of windscreen Sufficiently heated to the popular temperature silver will Precipitate & form an elegant overcoat on the back Brush with a solid dark oxblood red paint to help prevent Degradation lens is now a fully functioning opportunity 3.98
At Old Street Roundabout take the 3rd exit
4.27
Warning: Speed Cameras
6.
Fast-forward >> I’m picking up my step quickening my movements making The buildings look like buildings but the light is elsewhere I Pass people not the usual people but just like them people I note more cars on the road less cars on the curbside & I’m Thinking about my daily routine & think I am a memory in Concrete light water aggregate sand & fly ash & I am in time She is standing outside my office riffling in her bag for my keys Play > I reach her & pass her my key / we Are caught up & go inside together 4.68 Start out on Clerkenwell Road 5.10 Warning: Speed Cameras 5.28 At Old Street roundabout take the 2nd exit
7.
Rewind << Listen here I saw your friend Justin yesterday On the crossing & he ignored me I said hey man & He just walked past me that couldn’t have been Just I say he’s in the Aleutian Islands he left on Sunday Night no man I’m telling you it was Justin for sure 20.75 At Junction 6 (M25) continue forward onto the M11
8.
40.30 At the roundabout take the 2nd exit 57.17 Hey pretty girl time to wake up 58.42 It was time to stop I got my purse locked up & headed out to the shop Apart from the gravel underfoot it was quiet 58.57 Silence amplified as I moved from gravel to tarmac A car passed me as I turned into Elms Avenue Trailed engine sounds in my ears I saw a cowboy 60.34 He greeted me â&#x20AC;&#x201C; howdy miss beautiful evening hi â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I replied 60.93 The cowboy glistened 60.95 His feet a few inches off the ground
9.
62.38 Continue forward (one-way)
10.
69.66
Service Area / Thoughts that seem to draw me
94.22
Service Area / In the middle of a cloud I call
107.62
Service Area / Hey – down along the road
141.70
Service Area / Take off your high shade
167.82
Service Area / Meet me down at the old café
189.41
Service Area / I want to hear you I want to see
199.24
Service Area / To describe the way I feel
210.67
Service Area / It is you oh yeah yeah it is you
251.22
Service Area / Oh Alison my aim is true
276.31
Service Area / I’m a million different people
292.26
Service Area / And the rest is F-L-Y
313.81
Service Area / Down at the end of Lonely St
340.48
Service Area / Up straight in the sunshine
353.36
Service Area / Footsteps dress in red
Outside is reproduced inside Upside-down with colour &
11.
357.85 Entering Scotland
Perspective using mirrors it is A vaulted dark chamber Room an optical purpose Light from outside passes Through a hole & strikes An inside surface the Outside is reproduced inside Upside-down with colour & Perspective using mirrors it is Possible to project a rightSide-up image on clear days The range is many miles
Possible to project a rightSide-up image on clear days The range is many miles
12.
507.67
Warning: Speed Cameras
You’re telling me something but I’m not hearing I’m listening to your T-shirt Is blathering on about how it’s going to look on me lopsided it says to the left Your jeans T-shirt remarks will never fit me in any fashion Gone are the days of slender hipped boys with compatible waistlines & the man with the golden hair & the 1.6103399 body His clothes didn’t fit me either his limbs were too long Your aesthetic is altogether darker patient & accumulative less aggressive but Just as artful it snuck up whilst I was the making coffee & got inside my cup I swallowed it reading my emails unaware of the prolonged side effects
13.
The chair is as it was / wood & metal / I go Over and sit in it / today I am you & I am I Reach my-your-hand across the table & you Take hold of my hand / I jolt but I don’t pull away I run my hypersensitive fingertips over your skin Investigating your palm / my-your-hand is as I’d Imagined / a mystery made of flesh / I lift my-yourFace to look into my face / my-your-eyes smile hope At me / I smile back hope is my currency / why stop There I think as I open my-your-mouth / my ears fills With pleasure as my-your-mouth confesses / Uh oh, Uh oh, uh oh, oh no no Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no No, Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no / I prepare myself to Make My-your-move / a bell sounds / it’s the fiveMinute call / the bustling hall returns to me in layers Pushing me out of the then & pulling me back to The now / I sit in your chair
14.
508.69
Warning: Speed Cameras
White layering different sounds on top of each other Layering in bright daylight standing white sounds From a tightly woven fabric such as silk or tweed or chain mail Use with low-power dynamos & blue monochromatic images Take Egyptian-cotton bed sheets & adhere silver dust to them Providing narrower horizontal / vertical viewing angles & sleep Tends to over-saturate the center & the peripheries darken to Position the viewer & depend how well adjusted the light is ahead & listen this is a phenomenon known as hot-spotting This is not the case for an electric conductor such as me the Percentage of light reflected from a non-metallic (dielectric) you Surface strongly with a direction of polarization & the angle of white Play > I reach her & pass her my key / we are caught up & go inside together 522.37 Continue forward
15.
Prolonged but just as artful a phenomenon Extended & fold & reopen delays a chorus Value a lick of lipstick red low-power Hope is to record as patterns Fuzziness towards the edges throughout Concrete light water aggregate & wind “Correct” inasmuch as hot-spotting Take 3rd exit time to wake up an overcast day Dynamos violent as I open your-my-mouth Above ground I’m not hearing sand Listening to an ashtray & the sea Blurred streaks & a small quantity of white Darker patient & accumulative in time Hey pretty girl & blue monochromatic images A fine degree of sleet & fly ash increases
16.
714.42 Skye Bridge
17.
Hold the camera in your left Hand is a black suitcase with Metal corners & Aleutian winds Circle Trafalgar Square in all Directions & a combination lock Inside the National Gallery The Masters glow luminescent at Windows yellow they reach Out to blue couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hear she Was listening for transportation Approach sleet blurred her vision & damped her resolve insomuch As standing she waited wrapped In gold an element of change as In becoming on the coach beside Her she placed the black suitcase & began to turn red so that the light Comes from behind or from the side For a greater change blow off any Dust particles of silver & traces of Gold remains in the corners down Her pockets in an off cut misting The surface with your breath & then Polish with a soft high pink cloth
18.
715.09
Arrive
Distance 715.09 miles (show in km)
i.
Be “correct” inasmuch as Standing approach blurred Accumulative less aggressive & adhere an inside surface Like buildings but the light Is elsewhere & grayness a Prism sections of a sphere Whose centre would silence Amplified from gravel to metal Corners & Aleutian winds to– Wards the edges throughout The Cowboy glistened today I am you & I reach my-yourHand behind or from the side For a parallel to red in chorus Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no the Range is many miles at the round -About take the 2nd exit grasp At being as in becoming blue a Visual stimulation void of light From outside passes in concrete Extended & reopen "horizontal" Delays a hearing above ground
ii.
Outside is reproduced inside so the light comes from red Water to record as patterns blurred streaks on windows Reached Fluorescent glow 1068 aperture & you’re telling Me something but I’m not hearing I’m listening to your palm Is as I’d imagined a mystery an inside surface that even blue Can have an intense brilliance 100-watt articulate & bright – Maybe even vulgar dreamlike the man with the 1.61803399 Body I reach her & pass her my key we are caught up & go Inside together besides her she placed the black suitcase Collecting the north pink where a parade or military band Approach on a red patch of flesh I lift my-your-face to look into my Face in your left hand hold the camera a vaulted dark chamber on He crossing & throughout an opulent component with a number He ignored pushing me out of the then & pulling me back to the Now the masters glow luminescent white sounds sea both Edges particles of silver & traces of gold listening blow off dust
iii.
Misting the surface with your breath polish With a soft high resolve yet insomuch quiet Blurred streaks & a small quantity of white Bulb (80A)* 82C 82A trailing engine sound In my ears I swallowed it an electric conductor Inside the National Gallery upside-down with colour & perspective dynamos violent as I open your-my -Mouth soft surface with your breath & then red Low-power days of slender hipped boys & I’m thinking About my daily routine a tightly woven fabric such as silk Peripheries or chain mail hope my currency in gold an Element of transformation refold vertical viewing angles Layering different sounds on top of each other incapable An alte rnative he greeted me – howdy miss beautiful Evening high lift & practise your flying skills upper corners Hi – I replied in concrete light water aggregate & fly ash
iv.
It was time to stop listening to an ashtray & the sea it is Possible to project a right-side-up image on clear days I go over & I sit me the percentage of light reflected from a non-metallic (Dielectric) you the bustling hall returns to me in layers & tends to Over-saturate ahead & listen this is a quality most often used for portraits Of girls surface strongly with a direction of polarization & the angle of White your aesthetic is altogether darker & accumulative a phenomenon Hey pretty girl time to wake up I think as I exit time to wake up I smile back Through a hole & have no head for numbers 3 4 5 9 0 8 1p, 1p, 1p, 2p, 5p, 5p, remain in the corners down her pockets I run hypersensitive Fingertips over your skin investigating the bright in daylight be illuminated Brilliant & insomuch as standing off the ground an intersection
v.
An overcast day in the centre bounced dark exposure & hope is to record as patterns speed working together In all directions symbols are a great blessing for those Who couldn’t hear blue monochromatic images I see a Crossroads a point some above the ground in pink I’m Picking up my step quickening my movements making Room an optical purpose I jolt but I don’t pull away a Bell sounds out forming fine increases white is misleading People not the usual people but just like them people Blathering on according to artful effects cascading torrents Fuzziness towards the edges a combination lock prolonged “Correct” inasmuch as hot-spotting her resolve as misting Soft & natural looking I walk & I think I am a memory in time
Notes: Text from the following sources was used to create this poem: Flying & Light Instructions on how to make a paper airplane, < http://www.ehow.com/how_2266149_makethings- chewing-gum-foil.html> Fluorescent Colour Yellow, Code 1068, BRISTOL Paint, <http://bristolpaint.com> Historical & Technical Photographic & Film Information Camera Obscura, <http://www.dumfriesmuseum.demon.co.uk/dumfmuse.html> Successful Photography, Dixons World of Photography, (London: Eaglemoss Limited) Take Better Pictures, Martin Hodder (The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited, 1981) Pentax ME Super users manual Silver, mirrors and optics, < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver> Silver Screen, < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_screen> Poem Titles High Pink On Chrome, J.H. Prynne (Cambridge, 1975) Travel & Tourism Information AA Route Planner, maps and directions –The AA, <http://www.theaa.com/route-planner/ index.jsp> Cenotaph London, < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cenotaph> Song Lyrics Alison by Elvis Costello featured on the My Aim is True album, (1977) Bitter Sweet Sympathy by The Verve from featured on the Urban Hymns album, (1997) Crazy In Love by Beyonce featured on the Dangerous In Love album, (2003) Hazy Jane II by Nick Drake featured on the Bryter Layter album, (1970) Heartbreak Hotel by Elvis Presley, (1956) Jonny Appleseed by Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros featured on the Global a GO-GO album, (2001) Last Train to Trancentral by The KLF featured on the White Room album, (1990) Little Fluffy Clouds by The Orb featured on The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld album, (1990) Oh Yoko by John Lennon featured on the Imagine album, (1971) Pressure Drop by The Clash appeared as a b-side of English Civil War single, (1979) Rapper’s Delight by The Sugarhill Gang featured on the Rapper’s Delight album, (1979) She Bangs A Drum by The Stone Roses featured in The Stone Roses album, (1990) Step Into My Office by Belle & Sebastian featured on the Dear Catastrophe Waitress album, (2003) The Wind Cries Mary by Jimi Hendricks featured on the Are You Experienced album, (1967) Wonderful Life by Black featured on the Wonderful Life album, (1985) Young Americans by David Bowie from the Young American album, (1975)