Discover a new poem by writer of all things strange and uncanny, David Hartley.
NB: All words found in the signage and exhibit labels of the Living Worlds gallery at Manchester Museum.
- Our Hearts Must be Very Quiet to Hear it
Aye-aye. Saw wandering domesticated longnose ape. Must be humans. Our great-eyed monitor Dianas, Kirks, Pitmans: resplendent admirals, common urchins, clouded goliaths. Hunting our hearts? Must be. Great quiet gannets, greater quiet parrots, pipe down frogmouth: Hear our humans.
Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit. Crow, crow, crow. Our ruddy, grizzled humans must knot be quiet. Silver-washed, pearl-bordered, rainbow-billed: carrion humans. Be superb, be sacred, be sociable. Be large, be small. Bee.
Be very quiet to hear it. American woodchuck flying storm to Chinese. Hooded hellbender. Slender sun hammer. Hear it?
- Plaster cast of the shape of the body of a dog buried in ash at Pompeii
Aye-aye. The domesticated longnose ape humans jumping eastern. Sea shape of golden paradise buried in ash. Grey musk, spiny heart: the greater Pompeii. The spur-thighed, star-striped, butcherbird harvest of sloth dragon. The humans: hunting cast of geometric fruit.
Fly western. Hog petrel, squirrel poppy, harvest macaroni. Shag brill body basking in honey. Pike wild humans piping in mud. Shape a fresh paradise crested in a common heath, backed in marbled Apollo. Bee superb, bee sacred, bee sociable. Large, small, resplendent.
Bee blue. Thin plaster ruffled in eastern storm. Emperor knot lesser-spotted. Fire-bellied spitting king. Cast shape of diamondback mandrill? Toucan.
- Specimens in Alcohol Can Last for a Very Long Time
Aye-aye. Domesticated longnose ape humans hunting time. Lyre’s song billed in mountains, tents, barns. Very chequered specimens: grizzled harpy, lowland gypsy, pale skipper, spectacled goliath. Flying howlers pointed blood time. Bee snappers, bee hog-nosed, bee clouded. Bee widow. A spiked, spiny cricket bat can last for a very long time.
Ghost grass in black sand. Burrowing fire in white plains. Lyre’s swift humming song mayfly for last big-eared apes. Raven monkeys wolf down poison water.
A tip, humans: nurse alcohol, swallow slow.
- We Can All Help by Being Careful How We Use Things
Aye-aye. Use toad carrier. Use wood cane. Use silver cape. All musk poisoned, all sea poisoned, all domesticated longnose ape humans poisoned: use silver cape, silver tent, silver shell. Edible fruit knot spotted. All tree bald. Swallow bark, rock, dung. Help by being earthworms. Help by being reticulated beetle apes, grizzled mud moles, mountain soil workers. Bee mute, bee pale, bee lesser-spotted. Bee how we all bee: spotted by dodo; red, blue, white, grey. Earth by black.
Rabbit footed. Horseshoe. By being careful, we carrion. Salamander bird, vulture fish, stag lion, centipede shark. Dingy things, we carrion.
Aye-aye. Saw wandering wild longnose ape. Being humans. We can all help. Tip: use stone things.
David Hartley writes strange stories about strange things for strange people. His unsettling flash fiction collection Spiderseed was published by Sleepy House Press in 2016. He lives in Manchester, where he can often be found haunting the open mics of various spoken word events.
His fiction has appeared in Ambit, Structo, Black Static and The Alarmist. He is currently completing a PhD in Creative Writing.
Find out more about David: www.davidhartleywriter.com
This digital piece has been commissioned as part of our Arts Council funded Let The Artists In! project, which aims to connect artists and audiences with the collections in museums, libraries and archives in new and exciting ways. Explore our other digital commissions here.
First Draft 