Poems from Element
Studio recordings of five poems from 'Element'. To learn more about the background behind each one, scroll down.
On Seeing Two Followers of Cadmus Devoured by a Dragon : The men in this rather gruesome painting (which hangs in the National Gallery) were followers of the mythological Phoenician prince Cadmus who founded the city of Thebes, and from whom the element Cadmium gets its name.
Abandoned Airfield at Dunkeswell : Titanium is used extensively in aircraft manufacture. Dunkeswell is a village in East Devon which is home to a largely derelict WW2 airfield. This poem has quite a biographical note, almost all my father's working life was spent building airplane wings. I talk about him, the poem, and growing up in the North West here with Proletariat Poetry.
Ghost Shark : Megalodon is a prehistoric shark species and one of the largest predators who ever lived. It’s fossilized teeth, for some unknown reason, act as a deposition site for Manganese, which helps to preserve them. Although theories abound (due to the differing ages of the Manganese covering the teeth) that megalodon still roam the ocean, all scientific evidence suggests they died out approx. 2.6 million years ago.
Pellestrina : Cobalt is used to produce the famous blue glass of the Venetian islands, of which Pellestrina is one. This island, unlike the Venetian mainland, remains relatively free of tourists and is home to a small community of fishermen and their families.
Dogger Bank: is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea that forms the start of the famously deadly public path, the Broomway. The strange, mirroring reflections of Mercury are akin to the disorientating effect of light on the sand.
Abandoned Airfield at Dunkeswell : Titanium is used extensively in aircraft manufacture. Dunkeswell is a village in East Devon which is home to a largely derelict WW2 airfield. This poem has quite a biographical note, almost all my father's working life was spent building airplane wings. I talk about him, the poem, and growing up in the North West here with Proletariat Poetry.
Ghost Shark : Megalodon is a prehistoric shark species and one of the largest predators who ever lived. It’s fossilized teeth, for some unknown reason, act as a deposition site for Manganese, which helps to preserve them. Although theories abound (due to the differing ages of the Manganese covering the teeth) that megalodon still roam the ocean, all scientific evidence suggests they died out approx. 2.6 million years ago.
Pellestrina : Cobalt is used to produce the famous blue glass of the Venetian islands, of which Pellestrina is one. This island, unlike the Venetian mainland, remains relatively free of tourists and is home to a small community of fishermen and their families.
Dogger Bank: is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea that forms the start of the famously deadly public path, the Broomway. The strange, mirroring reflections of Mercury are akin to the disorientating effect of light on the sand.