while listening to hammered hulls

<first thoughts>
this is the now this is the moment
we are /n/ sitting here now and tomorrow
and the next /o/ day we start to become
someone new we hope against all hope
/f/ come on now do you really believe
change is /a/ possible soon come
certainly it will /u/ soon come
sure it will roll them /l/ out
standing on the edge roll them out /t/
going down to the crossroads
throwing /w/ the dice or die
by another man's plan /e/
switch it up now change it up break it
up and /w/ don't look back you can't
stand to go /e/ on like this
so better start to /r/ stand to better start
standing up for fear of /e/ falling down
we understand you're nervous and scared
hang /o/ on to that then hold it now hit it
and let it go /n/ or you'll still be standing on the 
razor long time /c/ come let's bring it on home
in 100 days check /e/ in again this time next year
sensational optimism for next april 14
play /e/ careening again in memorial
of who you /g/ used to be and don't be sad for
what you had don't /g/go there too late
just be glad for who you are /s/ what a homily
what a hominid what kind of a holy are we
<only thoughts>

We were children in a garden

a treacle sponge pudding

'mind you don't burn your mouth' 

Robin Trower on Rock Goes to College

pudding in a bowl in the dark

the black and white portable tv balanced

on the back room shelf while

their news or soaps are on in the front

pudding with a moist sponge and sticky sauce

I didn't know much about him

a Great British tradition with retro charm

but hungry for music, any music

feathery textured no custard thanks

boiled or was it steamed in a can, lick

hadn't thought much of recent episodes but

fish face Trower's loving every moment of this

'why don't you turn the light on in there?'

lick the spoon, maybe he's for the older brothers

I didn't know how you could be the singer

when the band had someone else's name

Daydream was the highlight, golden syrupy notes

coming through the tinny tiny speaker

comfort food music memory leakage in the dark

All these moments lost in time

Clash - White Riot (car radio 1977)

It’s a mighty long way from the long hot

summer of silver jubilee police and thieves

filth and fury but hearing this come on the radio

blew my tiny skull above the trees.

so I know exactly where I first heard this as I

psychically travel back to find the place even

if it appears here 40 years in the future

but perhaps all time is ever-present

aka the block universe theory

do you really believe that of course not

to be continued...

like a crystal owl (after patricia lockwood)

dissolving stars warm aural womb axis jewel of
pitch blown-glass hooted crystal owl containers
gay umbilicus made in her own throat flopped of
gauze stretch the hot ghost place let it flow
motionless upper uphill teach it tricks on the
floor dissolving stars uncurled teach impossible
words rich into a dry riverbed unchanging axis
flexible revolving nameless see what that voice
see what aerial language listening at the height
it could become lie down tenuous lie down pitch
in a normal way on the nameless floor pitch let
it flow heaven let it flow pitch uphill at the
height into various blown-glass woman discovered
totally alone see what toss it see what play
with it tricks see what audience could become
motionless against a background paused valuable
unable to resist against background of hot ghost
dissolving listening language clutching herself 

Angine de Poitrine

  
         When they                       I started off
        announce a world                confused, then became 
      tour, I hope they               happy, and now I'm a     
    clarify         which           triangle.        This is the    
   world.           My dog             sound           of licking      
    taught me         advanced        a 9 volt          battery. 
      calculus      after             Finally        a use for
           hearing this                 my pineal gland  

            Definitely                    Imagine you
        hiring these two                are in the 1950s and
      to play       at my              you are      allowed to       
    abduction.      I used            show them        them one      
   to walk           normally           music video        from the
    before             watching         future. My         4-year-old   
       them,        now I walk        daughter and      I have found 
          in microsteps                    our favorite band       

            My 10 minute                      I finally 
        drive to work now               found what the 0.01%
      takes          exactly            remaining     bacterias      
    27 mins            and 53             are doing      when I use             
   seconds.             So glad         bleach        for cleaning.         
    my grandma's       cat              First time   I've been
       recommended    this             proud to      be human
        to me in a dream                    in weeks
            
          I put this                       I played it on
        on a loop in the                my phone     to a 
      gym and        ran on           homeless guy    and he       
    the treadmill      for hours        lives with       me now. 
   in the wrong         direction.        Finished           watching      
   My shoelaces          tied them-          this for        my first           
      selves        and I don't            time and        can now 
        even own shoes                       speak Braille   

Peak-End Rule

 - Look, these are all my old records

- In this barn?

- Yes, they've been here for decades. This is a rare copy of Last Train Home by the Undertones. Even Peel never heard it

- In this freezing barn on the top of a hillside?

- Yes and this is the original of Stinks of Locker Room Pride by Hole

- I don't think

- I used to buy so many singles. K-Hole 3000 by Kraftwerk, with The Speaking Calculator on the B side. Haven't heard that in ages

- You really believe this pile of crumbling artefacts 

- I wish I had a jukebox to play them on, a proper old school Wolitzer

- Take my hand. Look at this view

- It's like that painting The Natural Heart by Friedrich Wilhelm Richter

- Your fingers are like icicles. I can't see your breath

- Why are my priceless records in a barn at the top of a mountain though

- It's more of a hill. And it's time to go now

- Wait. I want to sing one more song

My Year of Earworms

The repetitive, intrusive thoughts
What is and What Should Never Be

The stuck song syndrome
Royals, The Underdog, Roar, Soul Bossa Nova

Associated with anxiety and depression
Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing

Mein Jahr der Ohrwürmer
Somewhere Only We Know

It didn't make any difference if I liked the song
Yellow Brick Road

Scritch that cognitive itch
Just Can't Get Enough

The twenty fourteen to fifteen season
Sun In My Morning
when Happy was inescapable, when
earworms were a constant presence

Typically benign, neutral-to-pleasant
Siberian Khatru, Gigantic, Where's Captain Kirk?, Dat

A form of involuntary cognition
We Have All The Time in the World
Your Brain on Music, wired to ruminate and reflect

Just a normal part of how our brains process music and memory
Kick Over the Statues, Seasons (Waiting on You)

When feeling dreamy, bored, or nostalgic
Baby Don't Change Your Mind
associated with a wide range
Wake Up, The Mayor of Simpleton
of habitual behaviours and compulsions

Gusanos, tarlo musicale, keep a list
Ghost Town, Moonlight Shadow

Involuntary cognition
What Goes On (VU), Iko Iko, Africa, Be My Wife

Catchy structure, repepetititive
The Only Living Boy in New York

Dallamtapadás, korvamato, make a list
Buffalo Stance, Lola, Johnny Remember Me, Radioactive

An involuntary intrusion, difficulty shifting focus
Sunday Mornin' Coming Down, Champagne Supernova (not that version)

Have you tried chewing gum?
Take Me to Church, Crush, Let Me Roll It, Dexter Main Title

It could block the sub-vocal rehearsal component
Poker Face, Kracked, Hollow Talk

Vers d'oreille, make a list
All the Young Dudes, I Dream of Jeannie, Total Eclipse of the Heart
no rhyme no reason, stuck stuck stuck

Mental amplifiers randomly popping into your head
I Shot the Sheriff, Eternal Flame, The Best Day of My Life

Persistent or distressing earworms
Only Girl (In the World), Are you Ready for Love, Get Back

Acting as intrusive, unwanted thoughts
You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties
fragmentation is related to working memory differences

Ørehænger, kulağakaçan, make a list
Who's That Chick?, Galvanize, Them Heavy People, Linger

A subtype of obsessions
Japanese Slippers, Hilary, Mean To Me, Roy Walker

The worrisome Ohrwürmer
Alice the Camel has Five Humps, Shoehorn With Teeth

Se me ha pegado, neural loop
Not So Manic Now, Land Ho!, Rather Be, Irk the Purists

Musical imagery repetition, auditory cortex
Marks To Prove It, Good Times (not that one), I Got the News

Seasonal variations
Mistletoe and Wine, All I Want for Christmas is You

They say earworms lasting more than 24 hours may be caused
Delilah, Parklife, Dreamy Days
by cancer metastasizing to the brain