THE STORIES WE TELL
At every Tickbird&Rhino event there are so many conversations taking place and great ideas being shared that it would be nearly impossible for us cover everything that happens.
But we also think that telling the story of our experiences is important, and the unique way in which we tell them is just as important as the stories themselves.
The poet Paul Taylor is a regular attendee of our events and since he's a master at capturing the mood of a room in words, we thought we'd offer you an alternative view of what happens when a Tickbird&Rhino crowd gathers together.
Below you'll find a selection of Paul's poems that have been inspired by a handful of events over the past year.
Along with poetry, Paul is also a jazz trombonist and he's got a lot of great things going on, so if you'd like to find out more about him, his poetry and his performance, visit his site: trombonepoetry.com
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EPHEMERAL TRANSFORMATIONS II
The Horse Hospital
October 23rd, 2019
GENE GENIE
across the cobbles
we slip out of rain
descending the ramp
by invitation
into the old horse hospital
by invitation
a virus enters a computer
a virus entails a computation
sounding out its own designs
bleak waves hover and waver
over the rumble of RNA gongs
as we sit in darkness
pondering the sound trails
for cellular disruption
unfolding and ramifying
in an endless knell
tendrils of trouble
winding out in steel pan demonium
in snapshots along the lines
of ordered elements
in this organic system
we may try to predict variations
as we sit in darkness
feel a frown become a smile
a fidget become scribble
a stoop turn into a sip
focus mutate into daydreams
at any location
along the sequence
this may turn into that
timeline positions
shuffle spatial relations
our internal melodies
beating against noise
seeking solace in the tree of life
from Brazilian flu.
PLASTIC FANTASTIC?
The Gladstone Arms
June 10th, 2019
AMBER MANAGEMENT
as the light dimmed
we saw them
simulating body tissue
spinning protons
calibrating voxels
murdering ants on the doorstep
phantoms
levitating balls of chrome
secreting pineapple slices
in Archimedean solids
of paraffin wax
in the early phase
of sticky darkening
sugariness and degradation
we remained moulded in
plastic denial syndrome
decoupling from fossil feedstocks
as the ethanol kicked in
we were soon seeing triple
aloft in a Boeing Dreamliner
worth half its weight in plastic
we enjoy
a vinegar whiff
of foam crumble
in coconut oil
resplendent in cellulose nitrate
we recycle Cunard crockery
for deep sea dining
on fish outnumbered
by their own plastic ghosts
there in the museum
there in some unfathomable
double bond formation
Bendy Bunny Benjy
in his tailored suit
declines in a yellowing blow chair
his oxidized ear footloose
in plasticizer migration
unsettled by the twirling
casein knitting needles
of Larry the Lamb
ruing the bright lights of showbiz
warping and cracking
in delambination
and so we shape up
to polymerize our solidarities
for the multidimensional printing of
a cyclic economy
cartoon idealizations
a cyclic economy
fairphone mobilizations
a cyclic economy
the right to repair
a cyclic economy.
PERFECT STORMS
The Gladstone Arms
November 3rd, 2018
TIDINGS
upstairs at The Glad
shuffling into a little room
at the last minute
for a colloquy on complexity
we learn that
we are self-organized
into a super-confined space
and relieved to find seats
though we are unable
from the front row
to detect at this gathering
any coupling in compound systems
at the back there
as we ponder
the physics of failure
pints are plonked
next to a magic box
projecting the past
onto the wall
adjusting our focus as we go
we reel
from exploding spaceships
to the mysterious diffusion
of horse meat
across a bewildered Europe
where herded boffins
saddled with responsibility
parade box files of expertise
along a horse-shoe table
plagued by politics
and the choke-holds of commerce
our systems raise alarm
averse to dirt & dexterity
our de-skilled fingers
flit & fumble
on touch-screen toys
future generations
good luck permitting
may look back fondly
on the flightless hordes
ploughing runways for runner beans
or the Russian bikers
testing to destruction
the just-in-time system
losing to beta particles
on a chase through Chernobyl
what is it we need?
resilience & diligence
fail-safes & futured thinking
rationality
to re-cognize
the meaning of mistakes
the errors of our ways
unsure of science any more
the tickbird wonders
if she's backing the wrong horse
our answer must be
a wry no.
SIMPLE SOCIAL NO. 2
The Islington Townhouse
June 1st, 2018
LUFT
For Dr Giles Camplin
the pub a box of cackle
and canned music
our eyes roll skyward
our bubbles of speech
turn to balloons
I wonder out loud
about a forgotten firm
would-be airship freighters
at the turn of the century
the new face and old hand
knows first-hand
elucidates a Teutonic tale
of buoyancy & defeat
a project making Fuller fly again
sponsoring Your Private Sky
a conference for all of us
flying the flag
for Buckminster Fuller
decades of designs
geometrical journeyings
the poetry of form
the formation of livingry
technics & synergetics
summarized & annotated
celebrated there & then
by the late great Steve Lacy
on soprano saxophone
and so we rose above it all
with dirigibles
with cloud structures
till the time came
to drift away.
SEE/SENSE
The Wheatsheaf
April 16, 2018
WHEAT SHEET
Sarah Christie shares
the fruits of research
Professor Lemon says
ten times more data flows
from hand to brain
than heads from skull to fist
how do we feel about that?
from Thomas Couture
a picture of ill-health
Harlequin wails at the wall
Pierrot lies ill in bed
the good doctor
blinded by science
absently takes his pulse
the charlady stoops
but not to concur
as he stares blankly at the empties
ignoring the lobster
Sarah's doctors slow down sight
drawing conclusions from palpable pappules
feeling their way to ceramic sensibilities
in a bag of darkness
being patiently observant
being patiently
Jag Minhas journeyed
all the way from astrophysics
offering black-boxed visions
of the squared smile
force-fed
with the inane rictuses of celebrities
his neural networks
aggregate our grins
charting happy space
a building being
as Corbusier didn't say
a machine for laughing in
bowing to beams
the wit chief presides
red box tick box
touchy issues
leaded windows
loaded wonders
retail beach head
resting bitch face
valence & arousal
the tenderness of robots
taking the family out
on a driverless drive
is that my Mum in a Packard?
and is she pleased to see me?
how your big smiley face
can get stuffed
at a big mac kiosk
with no side order of shame
meanwhile the motion detector
shows Dad sloping off
destination clocked
by a potion detector
the tickbird has heard enough
there sits the rhino in the room
ignoring the lobster.
SIMPLE SOCIAL NO. 1
The Islington Townhouse
Friday, March 09, 2018
TALK OF THE TOWNHOUSE
engaging with the engaging
tapping creativities
we tunnel through noise
conversations paired and impaired
by compulsory muzak
Andrea? Angela?
Chinese whispers
without the whispering
is medical practice
enhanced by pottering?
Jenny? Genghis?
scattering references
Sinking Fast In Snow
Thinking Faster, Sloth
The Inner Game of Tennyson
The Tipping Pint
money talk
with the man raising funds
Arthur? Athol?
for the British Art Foundation
fighting the pain and misery
we and our families endure
when it plays up
when it fails.