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[wytchcroft]

when i was an astronaut
sailing the wideness
winding the pale sheets
in between the planets
under the table
and under the stairs
when i was an astronaut
with a clothes peg computer
and my brand new capsule
made out of chairs

travelling the stars
and the Luna laughing
good crew smiles and linking arms
powered by solar and magic charms
travelling out to the ancient stars
naming all discoveries
all them alien worlds
frozen and gleaming
an astronaut's dreaming
the gold flare of a kodak smile
the wavings of a lonely child
who travels the galaxies
who knows well the homeworlds
from alderbaran to diva-loka

when i was an astronaut
with a wise crew of soft toys and action men
heroically stoic when the artificial gravity
would fail on them
sent us flying round the cockpit
or out of the airlock
to eternity
in a damaged spacesuit
scabby knees
under the table
and under the stairs
into forever
and ever
amen
when i was an astronaut
way back when.

Comments

[m-lle-dantes.livejournal.com]

Lovely)

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

OH! thank you! that's very kind:))

[mr-stapleton.livejournal.com]

my friend, both pieces are wonderful! i enjoyed reading very much!
thank you!!!!
s.

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

thank you my friend, i appreciate that! :))

[stoshagownozad.livejournal.com]

Oh...
when I WAS AN ASTRONAUT, I had painted my own house ( I still live there) outer walls into space ship control panels... using wax crayons. It lasted for 20 years... and I think threr are still some traces somwhere...
And yes I was going out into the garden as it was another planet...

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

Yry!
and all of us are astronauts still i think!:))

[stoshagownozad.livejournal.com]

true...

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

:))

[alagbon.livejournal.com]

Excellent, both this and the first Soyuz.

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

phew! not a skylab then. :))

Oh, those childish fantasies! :)

[alex-kraine.livejournal.com]

Have a space suit will travel! :)
When I was a cosmonaut back then I used to design interstellar ships using plasma propulsion, dreaming to fly one of them when built to Alpha Centauri. It's a pity those beautiful ships remain on the paper only. :(
When I was a cosmonaut back then... :)

BTW, Michael Crichton vilely stole my Jurassic Park because I drew its plan at age of 9 back in 70s. :)

Re: Oh, those childish fantasies! :)

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

>Have a space suit will travel! :)<

Bingo!

and yes, i used to dream of voyaging to Centauri and other near stars or solar racing to the further planets of our system... which would be even more excitng now, with the new planets we know of...

I always wondered about Jurassic Park! LOL!:))

[browncoat2x2]

Ooh, I like that one a lot! I want to hear it as a song!

thanks:)))

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

*sings*

La la la la la la la !:)))

[i-am-nyman.livejournal.com]

wow wow. very good!

also, i noticed you are listening to Fever Ray. Are you a big fan? My friends are going to a fever ray concert in october and told me i'd be interested in it. It's like electronic sort of music isnt it? I've heard a little bit of theknife, but not really too much into them. I'm more into stuff like Orbital, Aphex Twin and some newer Dubstep stuff..

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

well i prefer Fever Ray to The Knife, but there's not a huge difference, just feels a little looser and the vocal mix is better. The downside depends how much of a muso you are, it bugs me sometimes because i can recognise most of the samples (Eno, Japan etc) - but yeah, there's something engaging, i mean you could chant the words here over one of the tracks very easily, i definitely got some inspiration from the album.

The Knife were always great live, apparently (and the tour dvd is ace) i imagine Fever Ray will be too.
It's funny, i just noticed, the cover of Horehound is real similar - i guess they were listening to FR too!

Orbital and Aphex et al, well they're a lot 'warmer' sounding, more drum and bass and loops and club orientated. I like them all, wouldn't really compare them to FR though. Different kinda vibe.

[i-am-nyman.livejournal.com]

hmm, interesting. Well the concert isnt until october, and my friend made me a copy of a fever ray album. I dont know which one it is, but i dont think it's self-titled. so i'll just listen to that and then decide if i wanna go or not. cuz i am kinda picky about the electronic music i listen to.

Orbital has been one of my favorite bands since i was like 12 years old. My love for them is deeper than even my love for dylan :O

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

yeah, that sounds the sensible plan, give it a lissten, atmospheres are funny things, it's very context dependant how they will sound to the listener.

Orbital... well, you might also like The Orb and the KLF's ambient album Chill Out and maybe Trans Global Underground... ??? I do tend to listen to much sparser stuff nowadays when it comes to Ambient(ish) things, so i've lost track of who is really kicking it in that area.

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

and hey, thanks man:))

[reginaclarejane.livejournal.com]

You're on a roll, Nic!
This is dreamy! ;)
I don't know if I ever dreamed of being an astronaut- just girly things as I recall- a ballerina like Fonteyn...
:)
Love these poetic interludes of yours!

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

thanks so much Regina:))

and - hey, Fonteyn was cool, an amazing talent and, well, you know i love dance... hmm i have to burble on about the film 'The Red Shoes' one day... Moira Shearer, she had a pretty nifty pair of... feet!:))

[reginaclarejane.livejournal.com]

I remember going to see The Red Shoes with my dad- oh, how I loved it- and just being there with him... :)
Thanks for a nice memory jog, Nic.

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

You're welcome:))

[aliasse.livejournal.com]

You make this seem simple and effortless. But: it's not. Very sweet and nostalgic, redolent of a different era, not just childhood, but of space exploration.

It also jogged a memory of my brother's action man hanging from the bannister spindles. That action man took it like A Man. For a long time I thought that real men's legs had to bend backwards.

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

LOL!:)) My sister used to abduct my action men and remove an arm before returning them to 'the hospital' in a one armed jumper she'd knit for them while they "got over their 'action wounds'..."
eep!
People get very strange when it comes to toys!!!!!

And thanks, that's really a nice comment, i'm glad the piece worked like it was meant to. :))

[aliasse.livejournal.com]

I have to ask - how many action men did you have?

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

gosh! well, i can't say for certain, 3 or 4 - i was very lucky because 1 was a hand-me-down from a cousin and two came from a jumble sale and i think i got one new for xmas. One of the jumble actions (a 1960s one i guess) had a squidgy head so he was my fave.

[aliasse.livejournal.com]

Tolstoy says: Now you have to write a poem called 'jumble action' FOR SURE:) (And use the words 'squidgy head' in it.)

jumble action

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

jumble action jumble action well that was the 70s
fractured scenes inside the churchyard
and the circle of trees
prefabricated houses
calling come out come one come all
a market and a meeting place
a sanctuary of sorts in the old church hall

this was the place where we learned to say grace
thiswas the place we learned our disgrace
where i drowned poor johnny in the sandpit
and swore behind my batman mask

but jumble action well that was a little bizarre
clutching at bargains a plastic watch or a matchbox car
a watch would make me invisible
i was never very good with time
and a car could swallow me whole
and driiiiiiiiiiive...

no need to be nervous of my awkward limbs
growing pains
jumble action
bread and cheese and the smell of the drains
the clatter of the tea cups
the smiles of parishers
among the human remains

seeking out my action man
like me he had a squidgy head
that you could pinch between your fingers
and listen to the puff of air
in one ear and out the other
with a wonky eyed stare

jumble action jumble action
handy hand me down clothes
back in the day when no one worried about those
and designer labels just meant which one you chose
between the co-op and the spar

fumbling out the coupons
saved all year
and green as money
them old pound notes
crinkling in the pocket of a nylon coat

but we were telepathic, we were magic and strange
we were the tomorrow people
cowboys on the range
we were the ancient martians
on a fantastic journey
through the bermuda triangle
to a rented television
and home again

and my home was everywhere
ducking around the neighbourhood
all the flats and backstreets
and the people all the people
like a cheap woolies pick n mix
plucked up and plonked down
in a random pile
with a jumble action
and a genuine smile
with a jumble action
and a genuine smile

it lasted me for a while
it lasted me for a quite a while...

Re: jumble action

[aliasse.livejournal.com]

That is Just Brilliant. Wow. I could never write something like that so quickly. Well, I can't write poetry at all.

So many references made me smile. The Tomorrow People! - I found that really scary! I remember thinking that 'Ladybird' was a really chic label. 'The people all the people' made me think of Blur (it fits).

But my favourite verse was the one about the squidgy head. Funny, and a note of sadness.

Tolstoy liked it too.

Re: jumble action

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

thank you - i'm glad you liked it!:))

yes putting the references in was fun - i had to restrain myself, ha ha!

i might redraft this sometime (it would need a lot of work!) for posting into my lj:))