A remix of my poem the bird leaves its cage (and enters another) remixed with duckett’s smooth production of Ad Astra by Ghost Collective.

The bird leaves its cage and enters another
for Juan Garrido-Salgado*

1990.
english was in the air.
the air
was english

blowing on a sea breeze at henley or glenelg
one sentence floats near you

but it will not come
into your mouth

tortured barred
in & from your homeland

mute in the newland
your heart bleeds metaphors
exiled from your tongue

alien vowels/ consonants
fill your ears
elude your mouth

your heart an injured bird
one wing
plastered to tarmac

an impotent flapping
in spanish

• In 1990 Juan was granted asylum in Australia after fleeing Chile’s Pinochet régime which burned his poetry and imprisoned and tortured him.

This was first published in Blue Giraffe 3 ISSN: 1832-6277. It also appeared in my collection micromacro and on the Poetas del Mundo and Australian Reader websites.

There’s been too much tragedy lately. It’s time I posted something a little more uplifting. I heard Copperhead’s very laid-back production of Simple Things. Leza’s astonshing voice (for me it has all the freshness and optimism of a young Joni Mitchell) & the multi-instruments of Jeris inspired me to add some spoken words and remix it. Thanks to Leza, Jeris and Copperhead for allowing me to share in your considerable talents.

Two images of C, a girl I taught many years ago; an innocent ten-year-old and years later when I went to visit her in hospital.
The original poem from a novel, torn appeared on a US website The Oracular Tree and in my collection micromacro.
This version uses the tight production of Within a dream by onlymeith and features the beautiful voice of snowflake. It was originally published on ccmixter.org.

Thanks to onlymeith for this beautiful production of A better world. I like the way he not only leaves plenty of space for the effect of the words, but also time for the listener to reflect.

A better world was first published in

FRIENDLY STREET POETRY READER # 35  Sorcerers and Soothsayers (ed. John Pfitzner & Tracey Korsten) Friendly Street Poets / Wakefield Press  ISBN 978 1 86254 962 3  AUS, 2011

The words are on Sandra Thibodeaux’ blog HERE.

My cynical words beautifully-produced with the original composition of airtone. Courtesy of ccmixter.org

A beginner’s guide to postmodernism  appeared as text on Blue Pepper website, ArtState magazine (ArtsSA) and my collection micromacro (Seaview Press, 2006.)