Bastard Islandwords and images by Steven Ball

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A picnoleptic production in the English Asteroid seriessteven-ball.net

Linear Obsessional LOR1202019

the weather is routinelyunseasonableno reliable reportsunpredictable

set up the microphonetime enough to prepare

wireless reports the bay the sunsetthe gale wind chimeswatching makes time

enough to prepareto set the levels

deep height of dayreports wireless booster trees ticking web signal transmission

long distance thundersupercell updraft

trees ticking web microphone knitting

reports wireless booster on the cumulus bayto make more timetime enough to prepare

calm wind of dayhailstones prepare

away from the landand away from the landthe trees move enough watching makes time

wireless reports incoherent

supercell updrafton the cumulus baytwo hours to sunsetcable delivery

time and the weather storm clouds blow in

band unpredictable two hours to sunset

portable trees accumulating nimbuswatching makes time unseasonable

watch the trees movewatch enough time

test the limits west, north, south, eastmove across microphone unpredictable

thunder wave band dusk came quickly

calm wind of dayrough wind of stormtwo hours to sunsetthunder spins level

and spirals around away from the land

Time and the Weather

attenuatingtalking ticking

scattering of lightthe bay makes weather

test the limits scattering of lightantenna systemtwo hours of night

the bay makes weather the bright blinding light

some incoherentdeep height of day

blizzard against windowantenna system weather routinetrees move enough longer transmissionaccumulate report

hailstones preparesignal transmission

moving across the baysong of cicada cracklehissing from treeselectric nightmoving in from the bay

Without Momentdragonflies, ants, and mothslocusts, termites, and beetlesfirefly nightdeep in the lightwarm afternoon autumn

anticyclonic rainin hanging dark cloud staticthrough misty hazeinto the lightin the darkness of day

and nowwithout moment the stormthat blows in tonightis riding the crest of the bay

and then without movement in thecold morning lightwas rounding the west of this day

silver light water steelgrab and hold swell kite ripplesmorning glows redfrost, snow, and droughtmoving across the bay

and soonshort and long waves will crossthe beach some nightriding the north of a day

and when thelong dusk short twilightin warm evening sunthe white full moon will rise again

printed on the windthe material of spaceatmosphere of the planetwave and radiation

a built-in speaker’s tinny soundstruggles to be heardand speaks of distance

category onenetwork crypto worms double pulsar toolkilled the operation

Small Sounds

surfing the short wave nowstraight line of sight for distance communication

reflected and refractedacross the ionosphereskywave propagationstratas of air and gas

electromagnetismbeyond the shores of this bastard island

percentage clear clouds1705UTCsea level pressure17,850 kHz, June 25 10:48UTCthe signal is weak

13,710kHz12,035UTC 20:52 clouds percent broken clearfew overcast scatteredRussian channel markerprecipitationlevel pressure snowfalldiurnal temperature range20:33 UTC

The Voice of Vietnam in Russianannouncing number & letter groupssnow depthmean wind vector magnitude wind chill15,435kHz

dewpoint temperature7,260kHzquarter diurnal reading April 22military parade style music

11,735 kHzUSB E07 The Englishman Russian numbers stationa lot of fading and noise December 11UTC 20:52 heat index

Voice of Indonesia with Arabic language speech and music few overcast scatteredThe Voice of Mongolia

Radio Thailand, a regular visitor daily minimum temperatureNorth Korean Broadcasting Service Jul-1617:15UTCKorean weather broadcast

Asian drift net fishing beaconon five-minute cycle9,730kHz 9,665kHzcooling, clouds, snowfalljamming signal in background15,435 signal had men talkinglike a news or interview UTC 1643

Fair to good signal with low modulation and some noise/fading

11:48 UTE 1.762MHz CW 2AFVW 2AFVW 2AFVW

heating degree days

17:05UTCRadio Vanuatu China with male & female chatting in Chinese sounds informal16:45UTCChristian music national anthem

Pattern Accumulating

waiting for the brownoutthe lapse occurred at breakfast the dropped cup overturned on the table againabsent seconds began and ended suddenly

then time came together again flat screenhorizoneating

horizoneating sleeping tracing a line on a page

super eight and video tapekept us young

waiting for the brownoutwe were woman and manwe were both and neithernothing seemed to exist

Brownout

sleeping tracing a line on a page

super eight and video tapekept us young

waiting for the brownout after the crash 1979 going nowhere fast speed flattening everythingwe were man and womanone hundred brownouts daily

but time came together again

middle distant flat screen

or couldn’t be describedor communicated

when time came together again

twilightbrownoutmiddle distantflat screenhorizoneating sleeping tracing a line on a page

super eight and video tapekept us young

straight streets colonyneatly gridded plotboarded up windowsabandoned infill housingpothole cracked pavementscanal floating garbagetopsoil runoff aridalleyway lanewaybeach abandoned cyclesdistant ticking high-hatnineties Berlin technowarm diurnal breeze

brownout daysblackout nights

esplanade speeding trafficplantation reclamation

unexpected duskship on the horizoncity tower skylinedistant highway bridgedockyard static cranesbreakwater black rockscold dark twilight secondsmidnight deep black hourshuttered supermarket little stock remainsunharvested crops

brownout daysblackout nights

nostalgia out of placelocation out of time

In Dixon

scrubby undergrowthlandscaped foreshore bushstrange lizard mutant rodenttriangulation middenlone cyclist dog walkerhorizon swelling waveswind-blown beach bushessingle lone windsurfer eighteen hours of daylight

brownout daysblackout nights

mainland ferry twice a weekroll through townshipwitness behaviourconversation social orderface to face situationstest the limitsconversation interaction no offence takenstave off boredomperformance etiquette

self-presentationself to the otherself to the selfconscious experiencephenomenal self-modelsomeone sociallyan ideal real

everything green super gassed trapfit math get bunsoul food step flexrestaurants cinemas theatres living roomsshopping centres streets and stationsbored young bored old heat and cold

hotbox takeawayProtein Barfood prescriptionsterilised tinned food hygienic and tastelessparasitic wormsscurvy ticks lice hotbox takeawayProtein Barfood prescriptionsterilised tinned food hygienic and tastelessparasitic wormsscurvy ticks licedeserted township after sunsetconsensual curfew

back to the islandback on the islandsound of the blizzard from the westdistant neighboursfrom a distancekeep the distanceexperience of realitykeeps a body goingin relation to this windin relation to the sunthe days which last for weeksthe week that lasts a minute

this invented personthis one that you constructedright here on this islandstep off from the islandif this is an islandif there is free movementto another island

can’t take your eyes off what you can’t understand words out of contexthang in mid-airrandom connections defy explanationthis story, for examplethat I’m about to tell that I’m going to try to tell

Mainland Narration