Free Running Poetry

As I promised you here is the commision poems that I wrote for the 'Barcleycard World Free Running Champonships 2008'. The last poem was published and displayed at the Championships.

Tracuer/ He Runs Free
Inspired by Urban Free Flow and Josh Dyer

He started as a set of Addidas Traceurs
Originally a Formula 1 tyre
Giving his precious soles grip
For the Tic Tac, Cat Leap and Wall Run
Strong legs cloaked by tracksuit bottoms
grey as the city concrete he explores.
A powerfull upper body covered with a
glyphed black vest, sowing sculptured muscular arms
with beads of sweat flowing down the contours.
He is a god imortalised in the mystery of free running.

He faces a wall
too wide to run around
too high to vault
he steps back
not backing away
Assesing the situation

His feet bless the flat surface
propels himself upwards,
grabs the wall like a clamp
swinging over
landing, knees bent

Scales the building
leaping rooftop to rooftop like a spider
rolls flawlessly
No strings, harnesses or special FX
Fearlessness is his only stunt double.

The city skyline is physically interesting
as the colourful graffiti that surrounds him
Unknown as the artists work that envelopes
him as he sprays himself into the surroundings.

Tanka - Lost Focus
Danger sharpens my
focus as I take a death
Defying leap. As
I land and walk onwards, my
Attention has slipped. I trip.

Tanka - Free Runners Vision
My playground is here,
banisters to vault
doorways to swing off
looks say ' Why not use the stairs
And be a normal person?'

Who Forbids me to be Free?
Inspired by Basement Jaxx - Run 4 Cover

If there was a never ending light
trailing from my back,
I would draw you a route so seemingly simple
you would lose yourself trying to fathom
why I don't take the stairs, circumvent the obstacles, or take the easy roads.
I see the world in a way you never would.
Music pulsates in my ears,
fast and furious,
urging me to
Tic Tac,
Cat Balance and Dash Vault
over railings, walls and bollards.
When the music slows,
I leap, summersault and roll,
hard to soft, high to low
My feet caress the concrete
as I pirrouette like a butterfly
creating spirals, arcs and circles.
My body - A human gyroscope.

Life is a playground,
I the child disobeying the adult within,
who forbids me to be free,
for fear of what will happen when I fall.
How else will I learn?

I move like the music that pulsates in my ear;
fast, furious
with grace and spontineity.
Life is never free from pain.

Catch Up

Wow it has been nearly a month since I last blogged and there have been many things happening. Lets start from the beginning! I have been swamped in performances/ recitals, essays and writing poetry. The main world events have been the new elected president - Obama, Mumbia terrorist attacks and the financial crisis worsening.

My new found love is running and with any new love there is a period when one gets burnt. My burning came in the form of spraining my ankle by falling on wet leaves, currently disabling me temporally. The thing I need the most when I have my Theatre exam next week, on the subject of my Theatre exam I got to name my groups play, which is called 'Alice and Wonderland'.

I have also got a haircut and have been writing some poetry, which was performed last weekend.

The Revolution!!

November 5th Poem
"Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,
'twas his intent to blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below,
Poor old England to overthrow:
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.

Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys,
God save the King! Hip hip hoorah!

A penny loaf to feed the Pope.
A farthing o' cheese to choke him.
A pint of beer to rinse it down.
A faggot of sticks to burn him.
Burn him in a tub of tar.
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head.
Then we'll say ol' Pope is dead.
Hip hip hoorah! Hip hip hoorah"

Its 403 years on and we still have Parliment ( and that old hag known as Queen Elizabeth II). Has anything really changed since the 'Golden Age'? Well... practicaly anyone can vote, slavery abolished, sexual freedom, Church is not so dominant, Antibiotics, CCTV, a civil war and two world wars - not much really.

The long forgotten 'Golden Age' is over and we are decending into a 'Orwellian Dystopic Age' now where we are constantly monitered, watched on CCTV and slowly but surely we are having our freedoms stripped from us. This leads the politically pessimistic of us to question - Is there any hope of revolution this day and age?

If so it is in the hands of the youthn of today (excuse the cliche here) who are blinded by clever parania installing propaganda, discriminated by the media and absorbed on social networking sites. I say revolution is in the hands of the youth of today because who boycotted school and protested against the war in Iraq when the decision was made. Us as students of course!! In the 1960's where were the riots, marches and destroying of conscription papers - Where there were students/ young people!!

The only way the revolution will happen is when they create more unreasonable laws that strips us of more freedoms, but until then we will have to wait for it to get worse before it gets better.

As to paraphase Gil Scott Heron - The revolution will not be on Facebook/Myspace/Bebo

By the way my television recomendation for this occasion will be the famous 'V for Vendetta' - What else eh?

My vision of masculinity

The image of the modern man is something to be questioned. Who wants to date something like this (bottom image)? He looks like a girl, you could snap him in half when you hug him and not a hint of body hair!

To me a masculine male should look like this( see top image), charming, intelligent and some chest hair (maybe a tatoo too). Some one who wont break when you hug him or break you. Not a caveman but not a wax work model, something in between.

I think the physical activities taken by a masculine man should be focused on maintaing the sculptured physique, cards (but not gambling) and dance (if a man can dance just think what other partnered pursuits he would be good at).
He should be a gentleman but unobtursively exert some authority like 'Rhett' in 'Gone with the Wind'.

10 Things I can't live without!!!

I was thinking about my life and what I could and couldn't live without.
Couldn't live without;
1 Paper - The bane of my life
2 Coffee because it provides the energy needed for when writing long essays
3 Internet - the font of all knowledge
4 Pasta - cheap and easy to cook
5 Ipod because it keeps me sane
6 Phone, its my timekeeping device, calender and camera
7 Jeans - I live in them
8 Wiki - It tells you everything you ever wanted to know
9 Pen - to write with on the paper
10 my bed - The muse generator and dream land

10 Things I could live without;
1 TV - I dont watch it
2 Tea- erghhh
3 rain, why oh why
4 boys - They are sooo immature
5 Radio adverts - they just reduce the music airplay time
6 new pop music, cant it be called modern shite and no besirch the history of popular music
7 paying for the tube, when I have free bus travel
8 an iron, when clothes get creased whilst being worn
9 newspapers, there on the internet save the forest
10 jewellery - less is more