The Time Being | Steve Kilbey

when you get steve “killer” kilbey behind a camera
nothing can go wrong
go wrong
go wrong
go %$#&y^

leaving australia in a few more hours
stayed tuned for impressionistic tour reports
photos videos poetry and interviews
and much much more
get it all here at the time being
i’ll talk to ya next from san diego
bye
sk

warm sunday arvo natch
party nexta door in le jardin
noisy bastards drunken laughing shrill voices
cheering whooping shouting each other down
the noise rises n falls like waves upon a sure
i swan around my house alone
i do yoga and all that stuff
there is sand everywhere
my paintings unfinished
papers etc etc everywhere
its so warm
late holiday weather
miraculous sunday afternoon in the seaside suburbs
wander away in the soft haze
still a bit of summer interpenetrating autumn
still a bit more bonhomie to be wrenched from the year
tomorrow i gotta get up n get serious
pack whatever the hell i need
not too much or they charge ya
get mineself to the yonder aeropuerte n fly away
its a horrible feeling on the cusp of leaving
neither here nor there eh?
i think of other times and all things there
i think of events long past n those yet to transpire
there are bats in the trees
there are eels in the streams
there are tiny birdies tumbling out the nest
the path goes on n on
we loop the river
standing on a tiny chinese bridge
the carp jostle for the wry bread
i lay out on my back as the noises fade
i pass go n collect my children from the park
i shave blurrily in that ugly mirror
time is dolled out
meantime inbetweentime
i eat old roles with peanut butter
i eat cheap muesli with rice milk
age does not weary me too much (yet…it surely will)
in many ways i am frugal and ascetic
in other ways a slavish waster
toxic in intoxicate
good n bad battle it out
one step sideways another step
the things we take in weigh us down
way us down
you gonna wear it forever
swallow, your pride…..
night starts to sag into the fading afternoon
the wind picks up a bit
the leaves are dancing along the branch
the strange time o’ day
light is ambiguous
i daydream in the playful breezes
many people i have known are dead
sometimes i speak with them
especially on afternoons like this
a hiatus in affairs
men have surely all lost their way
the olden times forgotten n scorned
the zeitgeist made me do it
a tv antenna wobbles in the wind
the party lurches on jeering and yelling out
i hear oh my god! a thousand times
in the garden the blond animals socialize
the birds call on oblivious to any fuss
the yobs at the party roar and guffaw
their bints chuckle and cackle
such joyless mirth upon this earth
cars zoom away all around us
the sky goes orange out the back
the battery runs inexorably out
the pattern repeats
the reality is maintained
someday i break thru but not today
i deal myself a good hand
ace of clubs
ace of spades
eight of clubs
eight of spades
and is that the queen of diamonds
symbolism
what does it really mean
if you dream of a snake?

tonight is the most perfect night
the temperature is finally exquisitely skintone
the air is so full of promises and temptations
the water oh its blacker than black
a silvery mist slides over the mysterious moon
music pulsates off in some distances
oh the hedonist with his phials of powder
his pills and his shots
all that white flesh at loves command
as midnight turns its deepest blue
find me in me red lit room
twinkling in the stubborn darkness
flying like a fucking feather
i am driven insane by it all
the trees outside so in love with the sky oh my
i cant believe the leaves as they flash in the moon
i whip my hands towards the floorboards
i dance around the threshold quite oblivious to payne
i cook up a spell or 2 oh yes of my own
i lay down
turn into a snake who slithers through the cracks
i sink my fangs into the futures ankle
hanging on like grimms death
oh sydney come alive tonight
money everywhere
its so close as this
money money money
feel it changing hands
feel it greasing palms
trees on again
luxury motors
wow my own jag-u-ar
i fucking speed through the crimson lights
i accelerate down the neptune parades
i crash through the gears as i spin round ante clockwise
otherwise
otherwise we might
the perfect night
give it up
give it out
give it something good or what
i arrive at a party dressed in a crazy fucking suit
i got sunglasses in the autumn misty night
i cant see nothing in front of me but our silvery moony mist
ooh the pool must be heated
i see a dark shadow slide under the water
a star suddenly falls across midnight
something says beware in my head
beware it said
we truck inside i have a big drink
i pull out my eye-phone it rings incessantly
i listen to my messages laughing out loud
some woman sidles up to me and tops up my big drink
i snack on the bluest corn chips the reddest salsa
the greenest guacamole the whitest aioli the yellowest fries
the blackest coffee
the strangest loudest music
hey man says a man
he offers me something
hell yeah whatever ever that is
hey what was that ? i ask ten minutes later
i been standing staring at the moon in rapture
somebody laughs
i feel my credit card in my pocket
lovingly i finger its little numerical ridges
oh who would believe the bullshit you write…?
sneers some grotty snotty bitch i fear more than hell
i make the smallest gesture
and her sorry ass gets thrown outta there
back to the cloying pond of socialites
doesnt any one around here understand
i have only so much patience
i roll a dice for half a million
too bad my #s are elusive
the people in the sauna are stabbing my back
but thanks to clairaudience i hear every last word
yeah the white powder of gold
in the innermost sanctum of the waterfront mansion
where i abandon all caution and
sit face to face with our gracious host
he plies me with the finest substances and stories
he is handsomely ugly but very very charming
i am dazzled by his evil eyes which focus on me unwaveringly
the hostess of this soiree sits by his side
beautifully cruel and wicked she is quietly observing
the music throbs his impeccable playlist
oh! i gush
i knew youd like that he says
sydney yeah
isnt it warm i say to the woman
yeah its very….warm…. she says at last
the clocks tick
the midnight stalls
locked into a conjunction
neither night nor early morning
the day cannot begin
the evening cannot end
all the drugs come on at once
this is the fucking magic someone near my ear says
of course i look theres no one there
thats him ! points some angry man at me
a dozen fingers point at me
thats him there yeah
thats him i tell you says the original angry man
the original one n only tempestuous outraged furious angry man
hes dressed in pinstripes and velvet red or something
thats him he says over and over
the host shrugs sadly
no i say faintly
no i say to the silvery mist sliding on the moon
thats him says the angry man
there is no doubt he says
this could be bad says the host
turn off that camera please says the hostess
shes pointing at you
give me that film
she extends her hand
now please
reluctantly you obey
and then quickly
head off into that perfect sydney night
saturday night in sydney
good night

stuck with myself
stuck on myself
stuck by myself
stuck in myself
this body is a cage
odd moments elongate
canberra damp n dripping
crossing the road to buy a yoghurt slice
i just got stoned in my mazda in the carpark
i gotta go back to work but first i got the munchies
hey hey i’m a young man but it dont feel that much different
its late autumn early afternoon
the pot has suspended time like a cloud in the sky
one long white low cloud blowing up the street
i walk over to the shop
i have to cross a big highway
i’m in the suburb of barton
every building here almost is the public service
inside the shop i thumb thru their rude magazines whilst waiting
good lord its 197? and you can see this sort of thing..!?
the lady at the counter frowns at me as i order my yoghurt slice
i love the currants n sultanas in them
i look at my reflection in the glass
i got platform shoes bellbottom pants and a body shirt
i’m skinny and lanky looking
i have ridiculously long hair which i fiddle with like a foppy fool
i go back up the office
none of em know or react to my exploits
i do some menial job
i pay lip service to a system thats waiting for me to leave
to tell you the truth i was a lousy programmer
i never got one tiny subroutine to run
i was a useless public servant
i was a churlish twit disturbing these poor peoples calm
they just wanted a quiet life
but now they were sitting in an office
with a babbling fool spouting on about whatever nonsense
hey kilbey shuttup!
so what i was a square peg in a round whole
why did i have to make their lives a misery?
so i’d smoke pot eat yoghurt slices and run round the lake
uh huh lake burley griffin
jog jog run run
remember the japanese guy who ran past each day
eventually communicating with me in a split second
how his run was going
how his day was going
his opinion of the whole damn shebang
one day a grunt
one day a grimace
sometimes rarely a broad triumphant smile
sometimes downcast despair
a troubled glance
a sly wink
a cough
a nod or shake
sometimes closed eyes
as i ran past him
eventually one of my knees packed it in
i visited a really nice doctor who said stop running
he was such a kind handsome knowledgeable doctor
the next week he was run over n killed on his bike by a drunk driver
huh?
why?
anyway imagine me pre church fame
running round this fucking lake at lunch time in autumn
pumped up on endorphin
another quick smoke
upstairs feet up reading the illuminati trilogy
n munching on my yoghurt slice
and yelling out stray bits of the stuff i’m reading
to the ultra straights trying to work
hey it says here that schrodingers cat blah blah blah…
shuttup kilbey please!
the time passes by slow
i try to work to escape the time
but i cant work at something that has no interest to me
like updating a fucking mailing list….yeah sure….ha ha
dear sir can i please be put on the mailing list for these magazines..?
the dairy outlook
the beefy times
the pork and barrel herald
etc etc
signed farmer jones
my job to put said geezer on list
i had a computer programme after all
i had a box of cards with instructions in fortran
i had a little booth
the tea lady came up to our floor n i had tea n biscuits
i had my own phone n extension#
what a little goose i was though
thoroughly confused and lost
sitting in this old tower in barton on a chilly a.c.t. day in autumn
so long ago
lifetimes n lifetimes ago
fucking about doing nothing
turning up at 9
released at 4 51
sitting watching that second hand go round
willing it urging it on
wishing my life away
i jumped ship n moved to sydney
into some unknown life betting on myself n i got lucky i guess
one year ago no one would even listen to my music but my brothers
now i got interviews n flights to catch and people to see
the only constant is the dope
the drone thruout my adult life (a dolt life)
now i dont even have to try n hide it
canberra seems a long way hence and thence
they threw a book of my poetry out once
i was away n they moved my desk
n threw away my book of poetry i was writing
now people were interested in what i wrote
we went back n played in canberra
yeah they suddenly loved me after all that time
hey no hard feelings
i was a ninny and i deserved all i got
strange strange days fiends
strange strange days

flew down to melbourne town
last week to do the # 1 show in australia
which is kinda like a quiz show i guess
although there are no prizes and no one cares about the score
i get a chance to be funny and witty and show off my knowledge a bit
didnt get that many questions right but no one seemed to mind
they all said “boy you did well”
i have a comedian on one side called dave
who it seems had a bit of a crush on the church as he was growing up
hes regaling me with church stories a singing bits of lyrics at me
not what i was expecting
the host of the show n the 2 mainstays very cordial
all the crew very cordial
everyone treated me very nicely
will be interested to see how show comes out eventually
after editing etc
(they say bout 3 weeks it’ll be on)
then on saturday n sunday
participated in the rival music quiz show
at enmore theatre in sydney
live for 3 shows but not filmed
another wonderful bunch of people on all levels
kind and accommodating thats for sure
among guests were clare bowditch who i sang under pressure with
as a closing duet to 1st show
there was john paul young who was quite a raconteur backstage
i was pumping him for info on the era just before mine began
there was adalita from magic dirt who was very cool too
and the boys in rockwiz orkestra plus ash naylor
what a fruckin’ supergroup
we did milky whey and at rock wizs request we did disarm
at the end we all did cum on n feel the noize
if you can believe it
yeah i belted it out like a real olde pro ha ha
i’m trying to weld arcane fop to showbiz trouper here folks
are the seams showing?
its an art to be a good all round entertainer
and in the spirit of diversity
i am attempting to be a regular on any old tv show who wants me
after all i’m handsome urbane quick n i could look good in a suit
i’m opinionated and i’m rarely stuck for words
i come up good on camera now
(as long as you dont get too close to my wrinkles)
and i can be chatty and silly or serious or whatever ya want
flexible malleable and i come cheap ….perfect for yer tv show mister
and yet and yet
i’m still a bit of an unknown quantity
no one really knows what i might say
i had a chequered career so im perceived as having paid me dues (man)
if i can just behave myself a bit
i might indeed have a parallel career in musical comedy or theatre
or celeb squares
whatever
gimme a chance
you’ll be surprized
spent yessaday singing milky whey again for a game called rockband
almost as bad as a rooted canal but no anaesthetic!
on monday nite i leave for the states n san diego
where we’ll rehearse n do our first gig
i see a possibility of more tv in the states too
watch out
im a multi media explosion
with maximized internet clout
my boxset of solo albums is coming
gb3 is coming
david neil is coming
deadmans hand is coming
and of course various odd collaborations
poetry film and musical all coming down the line atcha
today a quiet day of respite with my little woofle in bondi
autumn is in the air
but its still warmish
ok you fools
see you soon
steve-0

feeling a bit phucked
gonna have a few daze off
sk

busy signal
the ancient world beckons
kings were kings
life was cheap
egypt stagnated out there in her deserts
the nile crocodiles while away the time
mummified remains
hieroglyphs
chariots of silk she rode
thoth ammon like a falcon machined head
ra ra ra
the poor widowed isis
the thief in the market
the fault in the material
the brambles in the bullrushes
spearman
white hippy moses
white powder of gold
the whiteman in me shudders
you little english bastard
still the vast expanses
still the watery tracts
a sect lived in these caves
their cats were fierce half domesticated things
artificial light candles mirrors
i speared a man and my spear was caught in his ribs
i drowned in my own blood
we worshippers before the prophet
the cult of aphrodite ravaged by disease
the dawn walkers the street magicians
cock of the north circumcised by rome
a real harlot striding through the stelar
fucked by persia
buggered in assyria
the survivors wandering in the fertile triangle
cohabiting with an angelic species
i smear butter on the sacrifices beautiful body
alexandria in spring yes i would recommend it
sir your carriage has arrived at the southern oases
lady your jackal has absconded with the victuals
master your solar system has blinded my eyes
the drums beat on
the flesh hits flesh
heave copulate conquer retreat scream die
a man from nineveh is here with the necessary items
admit him at once and silence or your tongue will be cut out
lewd scenes inside the temple
the great statue of osiris has crashed into the moon
the priests women eat the fruit of this earths loins
yet remain unrepentant
the brick pit
the grinding wheel
the stinking mud
pharaoh saunters about mincing like his queen never titty
job says fuck all this…is ‘e ‘aving a laugh?
robin hood says i am an anachronism in this story
kilbey/ hemingway in black n white down in florida
dolphins herald the proud beaked ships
great blue haired earth shaker appears from the briny depths
zeus brother son of a tighten
the underworld oh grim no hope dont die
so many wars
so many plagues
so many tiny details we could not check
the symbol of the fish
who will remember the mysteries except me and west wood
who will speak our dead language to the living god
who will nail us up like notices cracking in the sun
i come to pillage
i come to rape
i come to despoil
i come to consume
bring up the bloody elephants from the rear
let the archers loose the arrow
let the swords drink our enemies courage
let the grape be purple and the wine be dark
let the women be shapely and the men be strong
bring medicines if you have them
bring tablets from the mountains
bring girls from the cities
bring the future down on our heads
colossus
toppled in the dust
no more visitors
no more sound