27.09.25
Bin city baked in vespers light
bell chant the split nets
presence of its exit art of voice
atonal in propranolol
beneath gusts of wind
Virgil depicts Tartarus
barricaded by a gate
columns of adamantine
exit voice underneath
the glass bridge tamarisks
trances of its whispering slue
of life no longer vulnerable
to contracting dark cloud
mouth torment instead
royalist samizdat harmless full
of blistering love the lips of others
that light my unsick eyes
25.09.25
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You do forget the scotch-taped
networks at dawn how many
Fortune 500 CEOs make poetry
out of kerosene Patriarcha
after his tongue their Families
then Nations elegy did not begin,
choruses instead ID people
have to eat remember
the upskilling aneurysm of my heart
its blended finance instruments
inside sulphate of ammonia
the phenol in Ozymandias
a lake filled all the same
I exit dream abolished hope
let me go to my caretaking angel
19.09.25
Our illnesses are mostly political illnesses.
Peter Weiss
Through which nothing passes
its wind black code minutes
sleepless in the Interbau
love drifts to tariffs graphic file
the remains of the city
of tomorrow its twilight
of stars or buildings sibilant
tears cyanide moves through us
in the Tiergarten rond-points
turns on a ruined feeling
its premature breath falls toward
the other side a song of neglect
here’s your new image of freedom
under the factory of the sun
The dead are transfigured into children, for whom the possible would still be possible, because they have not been.
Kindertotenlieder, 2025 is a short monologue written between June-September 2025 for female voice(s). It involved a 3 month research project developed in a variety of online forums but focused mainly around mumsnet, a notorious internet online forum aimed towards mothers & its discontents (chat, conception, feminism, holidays, parenting etc.) with much of the material is largely sourced through Mumsnet’s AIBU forum, an anagram of ‘Am I Being Unreasonable?’ something like a self absolving query into the void.
Special thanks to mumsnet contributors mickybarrysmum, EnjoythemoneyJane, WokeyWokeyGetupNow, Chickchoccyegg, Teenagequeenwithaloadedgun, PigeonLady, AdeptWriter, ThisIsMyYearToFindMyself, BookishBabe, Offyoujollywelltrot & many other contributors that I corresponded with over that period.
What plays at the end, is Gustav Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder’s Wenn dein Mütterlein tritt zur Tür herein (When your dear mother…), from a Friedrich Rückert poem. In the winter of 1833 and 1834 Luise and Ernst Rückert died of scarlet fever. Rückert would write 421 poems on the subject of their deaths.
Many thanks to the patience of Nell Barlow in the recording process & lending her voice to the project. Many thanks also extend to Luke Kulukundis for helping with the recording process & sound-set up.
17.09.25
War is hell, is it? I will work for the abolition of hell by calling a convention and passing a resolution denouncing its iniquities.
Herbert Croly
Praxis proposed city without light
RFID response their echoing
of evening fingerprints
hidden waste disappeared over every
horizon the wrong world
it’s dark song in each carotid
to stop dreaming instead
the soft wail Voice Residual Exit
of error hallucinations
everything is rendered
in the fortress city a bare piece
of its own language stretched sky
the Allocative Efficiency
versus X-Efficiency
not by rights but by rite
15.09.25
Decades in Rössing
Golden Apples in their charter cities
follistatin gene therapy
white angel comes to the Virgin
a bipartisan held my head
his lips of desert ice
interior oceans & digits
the air is cut to a hyper-secret
dust of bodies beautiful
moved by patchwork myostatins
blood goes in special zones
comes out fractal ‘normal politics’
either exit or voice
or creeping myrtle
after its legal death
so don’t die
11.09.25
Mausers carved ad infinitum
its design one screaming mob
the light expires stalks nothing to quiet
in The Glass Room, Fuck life
through mine day in day out
Bugle call half moon
you let something out
spangled of all history
competitive governance start up nations
brighter hues falls out the head
from the ground to sky
the world all over again
but this time signature landleech
tiny model street as though it
were pink rose the future
breakout rooms minicircles
come through the flue
in your still small throat
is music the openings
freedom cities their gravity
enemies of ours buried in light
for a literal thousand years
29.7 cm x 42 cm
Personalised Caricature, Custom Aluminium frame, Formcore
29.7 cm x 42 cm
Personalised Caricature, Custom Aluminium frame, Formcore
Dimensions variable
Customised Leavers Jumper, Minecraft School Shoes, Child Mannequin, George Boys School Trousers, Child Balaclava
Urban survival game
So it's just you, no kids, pets, partner.
You're 35 healthy,, no allergies.
You have to devise a way of having
the lowest budget possible
to feed yourself.
(hastily said)
long evenings ...
hours of darkness
... sudden urge to
tiny little thing …
godforsaken before
its time ...
I have Anxiety because,I'm an over thinker
I lost my mum, suddenly to Cancer.
Sorry to hear that.
Yes.
Terrible.
Yes.
I am doing talking therapy because my doctor said this will probably just be my anxiety..
But... but I have REAL pains.
its a stabbing pain. I'm going to list my pains
AIBU???
to think the worst??
The worst, yes.
Yes.
If anyone could tell me if they have the same
and/or they found out what was it, please?
Ok.
I get pain then sometimes I have pain
when I urinate in the morning especially
the pain travels
up to my lower
left pelvic area.
buzzing?
It usually hurts to sit down or walk
its a stabbing pain. Remember.
Yes.
Yes.
Terrible.
Yes.
In my stomach it used to be just sometimes
under my left rib the very bottom
on the left side too but this is almost
a constant pain now.
(whispered ) Meant to be suffering ...
ha! ... thought to be suffering ...
Godddddddd
... (good laugh) ...
I have lower back pain
struggle to walk more & as time goes on.
Have to shuffle before I can walk properly
after sitting down. I get mucus in my stool
sometimes feel like I have pressure
like I need to do a exit but I don't.
I have been referred to
gynaecology
gynaecologists
ah!
yes.
Yes.
Terrible.
Yes.
But they won't see my until
I take contraceptive pills for 6 months.
I am also so tired even if I get a good
night sleep.
It's the boiling frog scenario.
buzzing?
... yes...
all the time
the buzzing as if in actual ...
agony ...
but could not ... could not
all the time the buzzing ...
so-called ... in the ears ...
(good laugh)
AIBU
……the worst????????
I'm not an actively gossipy person,but I am a people pleaser. When people are gossiping
around me I find myself commenting
based on what I think they want to hear.
(ADHD/ASD) therefore
often do things to try and fit in.
All the best people I know are impartial.
My friend gave up gossiping for Lent one year.
She said it meant she wouldn’t be able to see me until after Easter.
buzzing?
... yes...
all the time buzzing
Not sure if this is the right place to post
as it's not an AIBU but more of I think
my husband is getting caught up
in some quite extreme right wing views.
Complains about how
they're coming in,
being housed in hotels,
not sure what to do about it.
paid allowances etc. how crime rates
are now ten fold etc.
its quite normal to move from the left in youR twenties/thirties when you have all these ideals
over towards the right as you become the ones
paying for it all with your taxes.
It’s fairly standard.
something begging in the brain ...
Leave him.
Yes.
Yes.
Leave him.
Jo Malone Lime Basil Mandarin.
Worn it since it was first brought out
no other perfume like it. Nothing ever lasts on me.
(A very long silence.) –
OK.
I keep getting reels short videos on Facebook
YouTube of these 'nonce stings'.
Yes.
Chemicals? The other day in the UK there was a troubling one where the nonce is having a full on Tourette’s attack while his poor mum
in the background doesn’t know what to do.
The ones where there’s a partner or parent responding to the situation, or there’s a crowd involved to, do make for better drama -
one clip had 900k views -
obviously it’s very sad for the relatives
shows the damage these men do to their own
as well as their victims!
The better stings, hunters are disciplined
in their righteous anger, they’re very measured
get everything in order for the police.
Just all part of the same wish to ...
I don’t actually know whether
these confessions are admissible in court?
But they have all the chat logs too.
Chat Logs.
I have known paedophile hunters'to have been injured when trapping their prey.
That's avoidable.
I am a bit wary of them for a number of reasons.
Some of them are obviously fake
done for 'comedy'.
Bit virtue signalling bullying on
behalf of the 'hunters' (like the episodes of Luther with the vigilante who made online videos) I often wonder
what motivation these guys have.
I would not be the slightest bit surprised
if some of them were
paedophiles themselves.
the buzzing ...so-called moving
in the ears .. yes ...th all the time
Videoing publishing seems to put them in the place of judge jury and is often for self aggrandisement.
so far ... then thinking ... oh long after... after
AIBU?
AIBU?......How do I tackle this?
Let's be clear though, people who abuse children are execrable.
I need to do a exit but I dont.
I know an sen 'adult' was attacked by one of these groups. He was going to meet a girl for a tea party. It was obvious from the video
had no idea there was any malice
in what he believed was happening.
Going to have a picnic with tea and cake.
The 'hunters' accused him of all sorts,
he was so scared and confused. I taught him as a teen, this happened when he was 26,
they made him out to be a predator
he was going for a tea party.
Took his teddy
thought she would be bringing hers ……..
All of this was twisted for the video.
He should have
24 hour care
but actually got
2 visits a day.
I think all child sexual abusers
should be exposed.
SEN or not, if you've committed a crime,
zero sympathy if it's live streamed.
Someone's got to do something about it.
in the skull ... &
Fair play to them.
AIBU??
The underclass discuss??
Do we have one?
Why?
Who or what is responsible?
When did it all go wrong?
Is this a joke?
OK.
What about a secret word you could casually drop into a conversation in any setting to identify fellow mumsnetters?
Baby group, dinner party, conference,
board meeting?
No probs.
Maybe a word is not discrete enough?
What about a hand arrangement, slight tic, stutter on one word only?
#Radicalised by mumsnet
Yes. I’d love a badge or a t shirt that says
“AIBU?” ??? AIBU
am I being unreasonable?
Back in the day there were mugs etc. It didn't last! am I being unreasonable
I think the MN merch there used to be set up as a way to raise money for SIDS after a mner's DS died of it.
I've got an MN 'naice coffee' mug - it was a prize in a competition.
loiters near @louMumsnet's desk waiting to swipe AIBU note pad
This has definitely got us all thinking
I wouldn't mind the biscuit featuring somewhere..... I'd like a scarf in MN colours with
"When sleeping women wake, mountains move" printed all round the edge
I just want a car sticker.
YABU for parking so close!
Just a YABU one will do.
You are being unreasonable 50:50
Yes please, any of the above. 50:50
You are being unreasonable 50:50
How about a loo brush ! 50:50
#Radicalised by mumsnet
on a t-shirt i would definitely get 5!
AIBU? How do I tackle this?
Tell me about selective mutism ?
Everyone has a voice.
I know. Everyo-one has a voice.
Ok. You are being unreasonable. The motto stuck
My son has many autistic traits but is super sensitive to others and empathetic so I assumed he couldn't be autistic.
He used to run out of the room in the episode when Peppa pig crashed her bike or if someone was getting told off in a film or any emotionally charged film until he was well into his teens (he was much more scared by Inside Out than Marvel films)!
I've recently discovered that hyper-empathy is actually quite common for autistic people.
I have always understood it to be a symptom of anxiety, rather than a problem with speech or language - having attended a workshop by Maggie Johnson, a speech and language therapist and UK expert on selective mutism.
She also did a TV documentary about it years ago. I suggest you, OP try to find any of her work online or in books, to see if she can help you. (DD2 suffered from it at school, but not at home as a child. She grew out of it,
especially as she did customer facing jobs.
AIBU? How do I tackle this?
She still has social anxiety in some situations though. My approach to it has always been ‘you just have to try harder’.
What seems easy for other people requires a lot of effort for me.
We can't all be middle or working class on Mumsnet can we? Come on all you uppers and aristos - reveal yourselves! Tell us what makes you UC rather than MC.
Wondering why you don’t think aristos are discussing their loopy dogs, petulant teens and must haves from Aldi along with everyone else? What do you think the “tells” would be?
My DM would describe herself as UC. Is class inherited or achieved?
UC people talk to each other in RL not on forums, they have very small circles of very close friends. Many of their friends are family friends since multiple generations, they all went to school together etc. They don’t need Mumsnet.
AIBU? How do I tackle this?
I used to work with an "Honourable". They lived in a terraced house in a suburban part of the city. Basically they had the title but no money- so sent their DC to state school and did their shopping in Tesco.
I grew up in Australia where.people are not so class obsessed. According to my sister we are upper MC. I find the whole class obsession funny. It is a quirk of the UK.
My late husband was an honourable (heir apparent to title of baron) and we lived in a little terrace, where I live now. When he became mentally ill he was effectively written out of the family will. They were concerned he'd end his own life and they'd be forced to pay a fuckload of inheritance tax.
I wonder if you are referring to Upper Middle rather than Upper Class. In my view Upper Class is aristocracy and there are very few of them. Those that I do know are unlikely to sit around chatting on MN, but I guess the odd one might venture onto the boarding school threads looking for information. On the whole though, those I know have different lifestyles and have less interest in anything online beyond a few social media posts shared between a limited group of friends (and usually equestrian related).
If anyone is genuinely interested in how the upper class live today, I have just written a book about them which is published in September and available to pre-order now! And I'd say some are on here, for what it's worth, as most are 'normal' people, whatever 'normal' is.
AIBU? How do I tackle this?
#Radicalised by mumsnet
Against Mother Can anyone tell if there is a visible nub please? I can normally only do it if it’s very obvious. Please can anyone help, I am dying to know
cant clearly see a nub. any other pictures?
No idea why, but it's this old classic is a total earwig currently
Give me joy in my heart, keep me praising,
Give me joy in my heart, I pray;
Give me joy in my heart, keep me praising,
Keep me praising till the break of day.
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King of kings!
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King!
Give me peace in my heart, keep me resting,
Give me peace in my heart,
I pray; Give me peace in my heart,
keep me resting, Keep me resting till the break of day.
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King of kings!
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King!
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King of kings!
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King!
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King of kings!
Sing hosanna, sing hosanna,
Sing hosanna to the King!
