A few recent poems discussing the two halves of an argument, perspectives, and landscape. The soundtrack is also a collection of moments seen from the present moment back across the space of thirty three years and includes people and places of great significance to me. Musical Credits for recordings and samples to Nicky Spence, Catherine Carter Brand, Dougie Hudson, Florencia Garcia Chafuén, Gwen Sale, Breezy Lee, Marion and Jamie Kenny, Oliver and Anders Rigg.

Two Halves

An axe is only metal
without a handle
and a tail without a horse
is only hair.

An anchor without a chain
holds nothing
and a riser without a tread
is not a stair.

Conjunction without love
is only friction
and a word without a meaning
only air.

A step is not a journey
without intention
and colour without light
is just not there.

A palm without a life line
is only leather
and here is only here
if there’s a there.

The left and the right
were born together,
mirrored twins;
a hemi semi spherical
or demi demoniacle
acceptance of direction
rejection of dejection
the button and the whole
systole and diastole
the beat and the off
of a heart doubling
Venus and arterial.

A mountain is high above
The falls below.

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AR 2025

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Doppler Gang

Thought it was you but no,
it was just your hair
on another woman’s head
she said I heard
you split so sorry
but
I wear her hide with pride.

Thought I was paranoid
until you stopped watching me
and now my daily motions
pass into obscurity,
my thoughts stranded
on the beach
of my own emotions.

Thought I was ready so
I girded my loins
for the afray, but hey,
the stage was empty
save for a discarded face
wipe that smile clean
into next week.

Thought I had the spunk
punk rocked me flat
with two blue eyes of
insolence sincere
and hench hens
surrounded me
with imagined complicity.

Thought my mind was made
up goes arse over
never say ever and
afterwards I lie,
separated from my own
head;
you’re such a globe ache.

Thought this song was
about you you’re so
lame your life’s a poem
that doesn’t rhyme
with mine goes into
re-verse so
I think I’ll walk, thanks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
ar 2025

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A peedie poem about a muckle bird.

Albatrossicals

By full moon on the first of November
a great bird preened its wings
hunting far out on the oceans
by night and by day wandering.

She cries salted tears for her lover
lost in equatorial zones
across the Northernmost waters
and so far, so very far from home.

An aviated quest for redemption
a search beyond limits of sail
sleeping through tempest or peril
fallen down on the back of a whale.

Albatross crosses the wave tops
each wing is a hundred feet long
soaring and wheeling and diving
her heart is not where it belongs.

Albatross glides the Atlantic
a creature of infinite grace
displaced queen of the Gulf Stream
Pacific, alone and misplaced.

The truth is there for the telling:
reconciliation,
a soul all alone on the North Sea
fly south to your love and be one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ar 25

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Some thoughts on the most peculiar relationship that the fast moving modern town has to its situation. Executive versus historical. Nature versus Cafe Latte. Rocks versus paper and scissors.

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Some musings from the Irish Sea on the way from Galloway to Galway.

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This is a further exploration of transience..... of passing to and fro...of lives begun, lived and ended. It is also a celebration of all life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Life Lived

The Life Lived
brought us both here,
yours and mine,
you and me.
Genetic lines -
I am your impurity
your blood mixed;
our commonality
seeming clear
makes each a hybridisation,
nothing pure in the world.
Your dear dead wife,
was she the sorceress
or the apprentice,
the saucer or the cup?
But I am not your cup of tea,
never was.
Your dear dead self
within my thumbs,
some aspect of my nose;
where is your residence now,
if not in the way I swing a hammer
and a certain mystical absorption
with the sound of a clarianet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ar 2025

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A few thoughts about the process of change, the fragile nature of human relationships and the value of learning how to be yourself.

Becoming Other

When the hysterical becomes historical,
I’ll see you there -
Don’t mean to be funny but,
you crack me up
like crazy paving.

When daily becomes doolally
I’ll sort it out -
schizophrenia?
I’m a mosaic for you.

When the parting becomes central
I’ll be more Man -
for god’s sake -
Just kick the habit!

When hoping becomes coping
I’ll reconsider -
read the cards?
Get royally flushed.

When promise is compromised
rip up the letters -
Alpha and Beta;
I’ll tear your translateables.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ar 2025

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The Scales Of The World is an allegorical story following the life of a tree and a man as they are both cut down. The story is presented in several short sections, each of which takes both branch and man on a transformative journey from riverbank through to a flooded world. Each section is represented through a mythical, reptilian being and invites the audience to travel on a journey of reinvention and transcendence.

Prelude - Cracking. A thunderstorm moves down from the mountains and lightening strikes an ancient willow tree. The fallen willow is carried by the river before rooting into the ground and growing upwards again.

Chapter 1 - The Willow Snake. A man is cutting willow by the river to make a basket as a present for an absent lover. As he works a Willow Snake encircles his wrist before he is struck dead by lightening. He falls to the ground amongst cut
willow branches. The willow roots again into the earth and grows up through the body of the man.

Chapter 2 - The Glass Snake. The man enters a spirit realm, a world of confusions. He is confronted by a Glass Snake which challenges his concepts of reality. The man perceives a hot-air balloon passing overhead with a basket hanging beneath it, and beneath that a rope. He reaches for the rope but the rope shatters into a million glass shards and he is lost within the refracted light, falling into a glass vase.

Chapter 3 - Moura, The Eyed Lizard. The man finds himself at the entrance to an underground tomb or gateway. The path is guarded by a Moura. The Moura invites him to enter this other world and to accept his fate.

Chapter 4 - The Great Serpent. The man passes into the earth and meets the Great Serpent, Maxa’ xkuk. The serpent is liquid and solid simultaneously. Its presence signals a great flood that will engulf all the land, swallowing the man along with it. Two branches from the ancient willow tree are carried by the tides to the opposite poles of the world and begin to grow. Each tree produces a single fruit and each fruit contains a single life, and a new beginning.

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Music - Richard Luke
Vocals - Alex Rigg & Breezy Lee
Lyrics - Alex Rigg
String Arrangement - Greg Lawson
Violins - Fiona Stephen & Greg Lawson
Viola - Liz Wyly
Cello - Juliette Lemoine
Harp - Stephanie Irvine
Pipes & Whistles - Ollie Rigg
Percussion - Anders Rigg
Guitar and Piano & Electronics - Richard Luke
Strings recorded live at Cottiers, Glasgow by Mark Mckellen
Mixed and engineered by Richard Luke
Mastered by Andy Baldwin at Metropolis
Cover design by Alex Rigg and Kim Martin

Dancers - Jen Farmer; Suzi Cunningham; Malcolm I Sutherland; Dylan Read; Aaron Jeffrey; Camille Marmié; Rosamund McCormac; KJ Clarke-Davis; Philip Alexander Macdonald; Laura Victoria Ward.

Choreography - Alex Rigg & Bill Coleman.
Written, Designed & Directed - Alex Rigg

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Thanks very much for listening. Art is an act of generosity and as such is made to be shared.