"In the shadow of the forgotten land", Sydney 19.12.2009 at The Friend in Hand Hotel, Glebe

1 Yesterday we forgot, today we remember Yesterday we forgot everything Today we remembered something (I can tell you nothing, I said You resist exclusion The shutters tell you to enter The open door creates a panic: “Stay outside, you must remain outside’) The doors of the city are shut, a light rain falls Taxis seize the bus lanes Doors open and shut, passengers alight feet first In their hands a straggle of loose change And lists of what next, what to do 2 We remember when we forget Every attestation a disappearance You are here and you are not The note sounds and we are swept overboard 3 In the midst of the silence something occurs In the steadfast silence an appearance I concede, says the historian Your picture appears in the paper, you exist (He’s only a self-appointed historian anyway; no matter) I concede, you exist You are on the record, you exist He shuffles his papers on the dry wind-swept plain His vanity is endless 4 The temple he builds is a backyard temple He builds his temple in the backyard The neighbours lean over the fence: ‘What have you got there, son, a temple?’ He builds a temple, a backyard temple ‘Should I build the floor or should I leave it Should I build the floor now or leave it till later?’ 5 He can’t be a god, says the preacher He can’t be a god, he wears a neck brace He can’t be a god, he goes to the dentist He can’t be a god, he can’t quote the Vedic Scriptures Oh yes, she’s a goddess Oh yes, she’s a goddess courtesy of her facelift See, it makes all the difference She’s a golden girl, she stores honey in trees Her golden tresses are honey gold She’s wild, she’s wild like a wild river We call her Kundry, she lives in Croydon 6 The fish look coyly, they’re native born They’re bug-eyed, she says, like mudskippers They discriminate, they’re discriminating creatures They can tell, they can tell the difference They’ll leave alone what they need to leave alone They’ll devour what they need to devour They’re machines of our own extension 7 We forget when we seek to remember It follows then, she says, that we only remember when we seek to forget The golf ball clatters against the roof of the dairy The golf ball goes dink against the corrugated wall of the cow shed There’s a target There’s a target and a big sign saying … HELP! A golf balls spits across the slope of the paddock Springs on the thick kikuyu, dribbles to a stop A feather falls from the sky He looks up, there is nothing He looks up Nothing He takes it in his hand. Everything! John von Sturmer Friend in Hand Hotel, Glebe 19 12 2009 (In a performance with Slawek Janicki, double bass) More in: video