sixwaysout blog

I fell down in the desert, my head was in a muddle
I woke up in the desert, my head was in a puddle
How did i get here at twenty-five past four
With Aftershock burn on my tongue and nostrils very sore?
To the person who rescued me I say ‘thank you very much’
A vision in combat dungarees. A woman, very butch
She shook her bald head and said to me ‘you gayboys have no constitution,
I’ve had 6 pints 5 shots and 4 pills now I’m off to Revolution!’
She disappeared into the desert with a new story to tell
I crawled ten thousand miles and then into a taxi fell
‘HOME’, I babbled, ‘Please take me home’, to the startled taxi driver
‘Or as close to home as I can get on this damp and crumpled fiver’
His camel with a motor crossed the desert quickly
I closed my eyes and held on tight and rubbed my belly sickly
He drove me all the way home. I mumbled ‘thank you’ through my tears
Then went in my house, and climbed Everest, and slept for a thousand years.

Been here for six weeks now, and I’m fucking gagging for a beer! A camel told me that there was a pub at a local oasis but when I got there it was a bloody mirage and the desert frogs had eaten it. Can somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?!!

1. A region so arid because of lack of rainfall that it supports sparse vegetation or no vegetation at all.

2. Any area in which few forms of life can exist due to the harsh conditions.

3. A barren or desolate area.

4. An empty or forsaken place, a wilderness.

5. A wasteland.

6. An area or place that is deprived of or devoid of something important.

If you’re lost in the desert here’s six things you need to know to survive:

- Walk with passion and purpose

- Never look where you don’t want to go

- No guts no glory will get you out

- Expect dead ends

- Never turn your back on your partner if you’ve got one

- There is an oasis in the desert for the person with honour

The rock wore green mascara
And white caked make-up hardened into tumours in the ridges of her cheeks
People said – you’re all washed up
People said – you weren’t like this in my day
She dreamed of Ali – her stylist – who would touch up her dry patches,
ease her bald moments, as he told lies about the lands beyond the Wet Sahara
The rock dreamed of a way out, or a way back in
But in her heart she know that this was her way – down – and there was no better.

Once upon a time, an ancient stone giant decided he wanted to see the ocean before his life ended. He walked and walked and walked, step after step after step, carving out valleys with his feet and breathing clouds into his stone lungs.  Every breath, closer to death.  After a long time he grew very tired but, determined to see the ocean, he plodded on. Until, on the horizon, this wise one saw a glimmer, a shimmer of blue as sunlight was caught in a net of wet.  He lay down at the waterline and smiled.  He died with the sound of the tide in his ears. The passing years and rolling sands buried his feet and his belly and hands.  And in 2008, this year, I came here.  And all I could see was his ear.

There is life here, touched
This mountain range deserted,
Where giants rest tail.

Bannock filled stomachs
Slide easy on mossy cliffs,
Decayed, Erosion.

We six plus two ways,
Walked, searching the sidewinder,
Some aimed to find gifts

Metal fish swim by,
Submerged killing machines hold.
WMDs.

… felt vastness in a small space
… realised even here life grows
… felt colder than I thought I would
… realised I’m lucky
… thought I don’t want to be forgotten and left here
… found darkness in light

Sit in your desert with your eyes closed.
What is the ground like underneath you?
What is the temperature of the ground?
Is there a breeze, are there spices in the air?
Breathe in.
Does the air catch on the back of your throat?
Breath out into the space around you
Be aware of the space around you.
What light are you aware of? Where is it coming from?
What colours are around you. How strong are those colours, are they shifting or fixed? Do the colours get stronger closer to you, or increase further away? Or do they fade at the boundaries?
How big do you feel within this space? How solid do you feel?
Breath in air, as you breath out, breathe life into the desert.
Bring the image even more to life – fill the space with textures, colours, smells, objects, sounds. Let it extend beyond you and your immediate area.
Look at the objects around you in the desert. Become absorbed by detail as you move from one object to another. Each object is crucial. Become fascinated by the detail of objects.
Find one object that seems to shine brighter, is clearer, sharper than all the others. Zoom in in that one object. Find one detail that is more beautiful and fascinating than the whole. Breathe in again and out, so that desert is all encompassing around that one detail of that one object
On the count of three open your eyes and write as much as you can about what you’ve felt, seen, breathed, smelt and everything you can about that one detail of that one object.

Draw a symbol of peace or freedom or allegiance on a map. Follow the route. Mark route, showing where compelled to deviate. Walk on the cracks and leave traces of your presence.