Faultline is a collection of poetry published by Active Distribution/Sto Citas, November 2018. The poems are political and personal (and an examination of where those territories meet), observational and contemplative, and travel through explorations of social inequality, police violations, street homelessness in the US, environmental disaster, intimate experiences of queer sexuality, rites of passage and bereavement, also the power of guidance and renewal. Paperback, 127 pages.
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lyrics
In the Embrace
The clock that is killing us
that is driving us all asunder
School runs and rush hours
mullen mouthpieces
race and racing.
Lunch break and us locked
in conversation headlights —
all Question/Answer, a nervous tick
gritted-smiling in that talk-snare
while the heart cloaks itself
against the barren territory.
Tears strike upwards —
the shock of slowing to sensation again
all the unfelt of daily steel and slate
and in those after hours
everything on the outside
laugh like a hyena
grimace in the right places
fingering text messages
hello hello at the bar
Nervous normal no room
a velocity speak keeping us apart
nothing spirit or space emergent
had a little drink about an hour ago
miming happy like you haven’t just pulled
through five days data-entry so your landlord
can holiday in the Algarve. Again.
In the embrace, warmth, tenderness
dissolving into woodland, no alarm division
weekdays and weekends, only the heat of the sun
then the sun going, only the praying heart
the things that need done, you stop when you tire
or need to eat, or when the daylight closes.
This pace within the body us all turning
in the great coherent wheel
residing in the magical
not levered out industrial discipline —
how the iron tracks came bringing timetables
unhinging the sundials, pulling us out
of the realm of the sensory.
Let’s pick apart the mechanics
the small coil and glass casing in pieces on the table
the long and the short hand
take the sand out of the hourglass.
We might fall through salt tides and run on the hill
laid down our defences
our temporary bones how they will ground
not the rapid, halted breath, high in the chest
too many days at schedule
steering us away.
credits
from Faultline,
released May 22, 2020
Voice recorded by Jer Reid.
Sound produced and mixed by Luke Sutherland
Luke Sutherland
Luke Sutherland has played, collaborated and toured with many groups and people over the years including Rev Magnetic, Long Fin Killie and Mogwai.
supported by 4 fans who also own “In the Embrace - Luke Sutherland”
It gets under your skin. Clever lyrics, beautifully minimalist music, tunes implanted into your brain pretty quickly and in there for the long haul. French female vocalist, Scottish drummer, and maybe one of my favourite Zaph Mann suggestions. Gavin Hellyer
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