Performing ‘The Moon Wrapped in String’ this week.

On Thursday night I had the huge honour of reading a long poem I’d written in the immediate aftermath of the death of my father at the Artizan Gallery in Torquay. Music was provided by a friend, Sharon Hubbocks, on her violin, and the event also had a reading from Becky Nuttall performing a long poem of her own which was beautiful, mystical and invoked the work of David Bowie.

It had been my wish for quite some time to work with Sharon and she composed some music especially for the reading, a haunting, timeless piece which summed up the spirit of the piece of remembrance and the ethereal haunting landscape of the Australian outback. She also added sea shanties and drinking songs and a marvellous rendition of Neil Young at the end, one of my dads favourite singers.

I’d said at the time that this might be the only time I’d perform the piece and it’s quite possible that I might stick to this. I thought that performing the poem would be a daunting prospect, deeply emotional and somewhat traumatic. I also wasn’t sure if Sharon would be available for repeat performances. But Sharon says that she is quite happy to do it again, and there have been rumours of an invite to certain events

The poem in it’s entirely, and for a limited time only, can be found below.

The Moon Wrapped in String 

It’s the end of the 1960s. A young man, recently married, finds himself in the Australian outback, a land of red earth and scorching sun. He finds camaraderie in his workmates, English army soldiers and mechanics testing a new armoured vehicle in the desert. But there’s something timeless and ethereal at work, human contact and the private histories which every person has, memory and landscape, a generation’s subtle remembrance.

Spoken word artist Robert Garnham performs his long poem, The Moon Wrapped in String. Dedicated to the memory of his father, and accompanied by violinist Sharon Hubbocks, the evening will also feature a set of poems from artist and poet Becky Nuttall.