BALLADS OF THE
ALONE
after W. Eugene Smith
Is the man walking into the dark or the light?
1
towers shift down to abstract image
flames and sparks engulf a man
umbrella
vase web x-ray zebra
a fragile child held still and poised
your wife will get old but not mine
time-warped doubt coherently mapped
carnival logic of urban dreams
jelly
king lion mouse necklace
reading deeply into the texts of others
there is no way to the surface
hope will be merely a straw man
exposure is just the starting point
elephant
fish goat hedgehog
shrewd self-preservation (legend pales)
stark contrast between dark and light
2
hunt through deserted corridors
slammed glass doors alway shatter
goluptious gondola
goitre gone
frustrated circulation and movement
reverse the orientation of matter
instant packaged exhibitions
and immediate comprehension
gorgeous
gorget
goodness goon
each monument an encounter
one more useless scrap of metal
prepared to enter is no trap at all
forms of resistance can end
gonfalon
gopher godetia gong
gallery wall and cool white fluorescence
stark contrast between dark and light
3
lampshade hanging from a wire
pictures in musical order
untitled
interior installation
desperate utopian compensation
ex-wife’s new home in the suburbs
the rhythms of the city change
change by being repeated
untitled
untitled
hot-roll steel
filamented lines and textures
arranged in a receding space
a drink and something to eat
a triangle between two roads
plywood
untitled exterior
no mention of photography
stark contrast between dark and light
4
long moments of sheer beauty
no chance of us returning
gas stations funeral parlours motels
a misguided group of electrons
criss-crossing both sidewalk and street
pools of light and streams of silk
almost medical intimacies
shoulders buttocks arms
scuffed elbows
huge scale, glossy close-ups
accompanied by extended captions
the toolshed of childhood
secrets kept as long as could be
friendship madness passion
death
stolen and borrowed voices
stark contrast between dark and light
5
past the gift shop and reception
ready to abandon time
casual silence early nights
thinking about warm water
breathing into airless lungs
ripping up carpets and settling in
a series of private meetings
marriages friends past
lovers children
the world out back transfigured
no less than a second honeymoon
hand clamped over mouth
memory frosting over
glacier
rockfall
frozen sea
white noise of repression
stark contrast between dark and light
6
radio stations as instruments
how we eat our young
telephone scissors perimeter
fence
find me some new sounds
re-shape, re-order everything
simmering becomes boiling
from gas to solid to liquid
correction collapse reversal
we all rolled down our windows
as the past rode up to talk
the king of the island
became what had been dream
ladder
ocean orchard
the man who brings assertion
stark contrast between dark and light
7
god of the wind and rain
whirling rush of spinning earth
damask
morocco sandgrain plain
floods scooping hollows in the rock
distant ridges still on fire
sharp-eyed curiosity
journeying across the map
ridged
ripple stipple cord
contemplate lost specimens
despair lined up along the road
only imagine what will follow
self-cancelling perception
brocade
coltskin
linen lined
strategies restoring power
stark contrast between dark and light
8
dislocations such as this
explain intricacies of belief
bokhara vermillion
forest birch
memories of familiar objects
dust spinning out behind
intimacy and confused love
I tend to go a little misty
emerald
medina tabriz tan
no respect for nothing
all our lives are now in doubt
premonitions of disaster
travelling high vibrating lines
pristine oatmeal vellum mist
tiny flowers and fragile timbers
stark contrast between dark and light
9
a breeding-place of wind and drift
difficulty turned into song
kestrel
fulmar sparrow dove
all the foghorns in the world
kilowatt hour by kilowatt hour
weaving through the debris
history apparently consumed
skylark tern flamingo thrush
high winds and pressure drop
dwellings on a hillside
I stand in need of explanation
images taken for granted
bullfinch plover lapwing kite
a passionate exercise in faith
stark contrast between dark and light
10
swept along by wind and tide
welcome guests to the evening
smoke
scarlet kraft pearl
no time at the end of the world
how did you track me down?
a crowd of about two hundred
complained in thunderous voice
pink
damascus
citrine
stone
a series of stylized tableau
the glove signifies the hand
contradict the new disorder
tortured and distorted flesh
sapphire
violet maize fern
I am taking apart the genius machine
stark contrast between dark and light
11
walking upright from the forest
corridors between makeshift rooms
trout
sturgeon cisco pike
portraits stare down from the walls
threatened with extinction
park the car off the public highway
is this the way to paradise park?
squawfish pupfish minnow
chub
moving along the invisible road
not with prayers but slogans
dramatic close-ups and bleaching techniques
interference between stations
darter
gambusia
wetjaw
toad
scratching and digging for a living
stark contrast between dark and light
12
proverbial swing of the pendulum
flashbulbs popping in the night
waffle
warble wanton ward
a man without hands pounding glass
fed up with lying in state
back to the moment of explosion
we need no explanation
whether
weather weasel warm
opposition seems to be shifting
the phone lines always adrift
negotiations breaking down
extolling the virtues of war
warrior
warrant wheedle weep
diagonal movement out of the frame
stark contrast between dark and light
© Rupert M
Loydell 2002