Icarus searching # 2

Having finally landed, Edinburgh, Brighton, Winchester, Edinburgh, Brighton, Winchester, Edinburgh, Brighton, Winchester, Oklahoma, New York, Brighton, Winchester, Brighton, Oxford, Liverpool, Brighton... flying, driving, hundreds of miles... and now with nothing to eat in the house, an old black dog sneaked up and reminded me that time isn't mine to keep but only something I am allowed to borrow now and then. This is the time of now and then, remember the time we wasted, languid days on faraway beaches, reading books and listening to waves lapping on exotic shores - sigh. And as Mother's Day signs start appearing in shops you know the year is marching on (trump, tramp, tromp) before you have had a chance to take stock of the old year just gone. And now I find myself deliberating the idea of 'bifurcation' for a paper for Axon Journal and I am thinking an imaginary bifurcation, and a walk in another direction through a projected nostalgia, a daydream journey into what if... I love how the Mandé have tunes that celebrate their family name and this tune speaks of optimism so maybe I will march to this, its called 'Kala Djula'

Icarus searching # 1

"Be Mankan" is a west African phrase which means "People are never equal". Ali Farke Toure and Toumani Diabate recorded it as an ancient Mande song, and played it as a waltz. Toumani says, in the liner notes to the album, "The proverb at the centre of the song says something like, 'It is the blessings that make the tears fall.' It means that if you think of someone you love, of someone in whom you've invested your hope, and that person dies, then you'll cry for sure. Why? Because there was hope. Because that person was dear to you. And tears fall because of the blessings." Hope is the strange word here because it implies 'unrequited' and the idea that 'people are never equal' resonates through it. One of the huge lessons I learned early on in life was that, 'not everyone you try to like will like you back,' and whether you are in West Africa or South East Scotland it resonates true, even though we keep trying, which makes the unconditional love of a parent all the more special. Nine months and a day after this picture (above) was taken I was born - goodness, married on the Saturday, pregnant on the Sunday and then she taught me I was equal to anyone; but best of all she taught me to waltz...