NO TOUR THIS YEAR
beware the Ideas of March
summer off
year out
will eke the poetic pennies in South-East Asia
...
...
there’s Ladakh
the very farthest northern region of India
i’ve been hankering to go to for years
yet its icebound most of the year
and only practical two months
June and July
which aren’t Fringe compatible
so i ain’t ever been
...
yet...
this year...
Ladakh, Leh, here i come
the high cool empty, here i come
the blue-and-white yonder, here i come
some kind of Himalaya, here i come
next step the next step, here i come
upstep the upstep, here i come
...
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...
...
will miss many many Canadians
yet...
the high mountains beckon
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other incentives are
...
South-East Asia cures my gout
gout doesn’t get cured
but mine did
by the diet
...
...
while creating and putting up this
The Bucket Of Unused Ideas
was shattering
...
especially as it got followed by long-Covid brainfug
from the Covid i believe i caught from Madani
a nomad in the Sahara
...
yet, if you want to get some of me this year
you can always subscribe to The Bucket
5 bux CAD gets you a month
...
...
while, Ladakh aside,
the biggest motivation is
that i really liked last summer’s show
Adventures In Canadian Parking Lots
yet none of it was purely a product of the preceding winter
2024-25
most of the ideas and writing i’d had for ten years
...
i might have put together
finessed it
in the Spring of last year
but none of it originated then
...
the arising logic being
a good show now takes more than a winter
and while i have probably over half a next show already
i likely need more time
...
and can now spend many happy months
directionless
thinking reading and writing whatever i like
...
...
whilst often bending the mind towards The Bucket
...
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in other news
sickly sweet perfume of fermenting mangoes pervades my world
...
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in other news
...
back to Neil Island
for nine whole days
of super-cheap living
to think about poems
and what might be for the future Bucket
...
jungle
coral
high trees
...
parotha
masala dosa
fleshy coconuts
biryani
thali
...
and at high-tide
my longest swims in years
right out
over the atoll
to the coral
with goggles
for the underwater coral show
...
and low-tide
flipfloppily picking one’s way out
across the coral
living and dead
to the atoll
...
and at any tide
picking one’s way out along the Mangrove line
the rich greens
the harsh rock
the dead coral
the white sand
...
with
Laxmanpur Beach
and Sitapur Beach
and Ratnagar Beach
and more jungle strolls
...
...
so here we go, here i go
next stop the next stop
next step the next step
upstep the upstep
...
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in other news
...
made a new pal
Stephen, lives in Wales
...
here’s a dialogue
...
Stephen
“i’m a carpenter”
me
“you never said you were a carpenter, Stephen”
Stephen
“carpenters never tell people they’re a carpenter
everyone got something they got needs fixing”
...
...
not me though
no possessions
no home
no wood
...
We're so sad that we won't see you and enjoy your always delightful performance this year, Jem.
But we're happy for you that your Indian diet has addressed your gout.
...Barb & Brian
Will miss you in Edmonton, Jem. (The only Canadian festival I'm doing this year)