Fly Cemetery
Regression. At 4am, the night’s great depth, Despite the coming morning clatter, The sinless sleep like John the Baptist, Silent on their silver platters, The grave lie, fitful in the treacle, Aching roots and tender gums, Clawing at the church and steeple To shelter from the faceless huns, Ay! These demons swoop and snatch … Read more
Devil in a Used Dress
Another Kanye-inspired set of lyrics. Everyday for him is escapism for me, I guess. I’m going to record this to Berthex’s Devil in a New Dress instrumental, sometime over the holidays. Apologies to Rick Ross’ braggadocio. I met you in the atrium, lips shredded from the nervousness, Grandeur awe, gold gilding in the portered lifts, Elevate … Read more
Carmen
Elliptical orbits, Calmes étoiles, Postcards from Sierra Leone, Delaminating ticket stubs, Years of concourse hide and seek, Oaken shutters, Airborne dust, Reconciling ageing trinkets, Cutlery from God-knows where, Tarnishing in creaky drawers, Whiffs of spirits, Morning ash, Bobby pins on bedside veneer, Salty bedsheets cling to torsi, Heavy-scented waking skin, Converted gaslights, Threadbare coats, Emporia … Read more
Thirlestane View
I Water vapour condenses On cold glass, adding weight, Frosting any light falling in Through the thin, single pane, High noon sees the room stay dim In these drab, winter months, Slushy greys smear brickwork on Outside walls, puce shopfronts, Crimson flashes fade quickly In pale sun, like old clothes, People on cobbles totter Unsteady, … Read more
Blackberry Lily
My collarbone scar rubs red in the evening showers, Dusty shapes looming through the early hours, I watch the sun come up, clouds drawn above the fascia, Another morning wrapped up in Galatians, I removed my timepiece and we both shared the context, Everything I know is anodised with subtext, Private lexica, condemned to papers … Read more
Blame Games
I wrote this to the beat of Kanye West’s Blame Game, hopefully I’ll put it to original music soon. You were always such a fearless aphrodisiac, Cause a pressure change, force a heart attack, Now you call me up asking if I’m wearing black, Well maybe I am, Baby girl see you got inside my … Read more
SE
Blue lips Hands in pockets The tang of waxed jackets Frosted car bonnets Snow fights Your painted nails Leave love bites Grab my hair and hold tight Sore eyes Raw hips rouge Blow smokey plumes Concealing me and you Kiss me Just once more Coralie, for me leave Our clothes on the kitchen floor.
Deployment
My love, she twists and twirls through fire, Where politicians dare not tread, Where desert boots melt in the heat And bass wakes children in their beds, Casting hearts and minds aflutter, A ballet on a dusty floor, Her sweat drips saline down her neck, Soles dirty with this barefoot war, A company of fusiliers, … Read more
Behaviour
Documentation of the Behaviour ensemble project is now online. Please click on the link below, or select ‘Behaviour’ from the top menu bar. sjmallison.wordpress.com/behaviour
Passports
When we first met, you had that gleam in your eye, You must remember it too! Just think back to the time When we ran from the police because it seemed braver than Standing our ground and locking our hands, There was a double pump beat to us, so oxygen-heavy, I waited and waited but … Read more
