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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.

Paul Taylor 2019

trombonepoetry.com

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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.

Paul Taylor 2019

trombonepoetry.com

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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.

Paul Taylor 2018

trombonepoetry.com

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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.

Paul Taylor 2018

trombonepoetry.com

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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.

Paul Taylor 2018

trombonepoetry.com

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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.

Paul Taylor 2018

trombonepoetry.com

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