art is our artillery

sisters and brothers - art is our artillery

i'm not backin up my utility - not sitting down collectively - your resistance is my futility - facing up to the humanity - this gut-drenched humility - we paint these walls they erected for our security

and art is our artillery - we are the stones at tanks - this rock-star pose at the barricades - we are black mask window smashers - with words - not guns - we bomb walls not gods - these bricks thrown at bricks - are linguistic tricks - our armour is personal - our products are political

like a one-dollar-a-day comical hedge-fund - a stand-alone reptile of climate capital - the fine sand particles get stuck in yr teeth - like a profit-driven fascist tool - as we shout azadi from the watchtowers - then this art is our artillery

when freedom is tantamount to oxygen - not just a word to breath out - but a depth of necessity for your mentality - to consume like blood - to pray at deaf gods for quality of life - of death - not air-conditioners - not cosmetic practitioners - not holistic nutritionists

up there they're spruiking spin spin spin - like cleaner shinier coal - less oilier oil spills - prettier more vibrant sunsets - claiming nicer weather in other hemispheres - and we cannot scream politely - art is our artillery

our mechanical images of boots and guns projected on your houses - our street theatre is more than automatic - coz we deny the democratic - where losers lose - and winners win without consensus there is no reality

and at woomera as the fences tore to the sacred desert - from the palisades she saw them paint freedom in blood - on fences on the cameras, the walls - then art is our artillery - our radical capillary

your coded hacking the concrete apartheid - and the tanks in the streets become cardboard burning - in gaza, in palestine these words are our our intifada - our blistered feet and dusty faces weapons

the fences ripped near checkpoints - the ideas thrown at walls - that wall - that wall twice the height of the last one - more than four times the length of the last one - and it came down - we tore it down - and walls come down - walls come down - the walls come tumbling down - and walls come down - walls come down - the walls come tumbling down

they tear down the segments with car-jacks - and fists and hammers and bricks - thrown at bricks thrown at bricks thrown at bricks…

so under the tear gas grenades - art is our artillery - in the back of this police van - the seared flesh, no sirens in the coolgardie sun - the paint flaked - and we march toward the stolen lands in mass strides - the colonial treatyless regions - to the open sea of refugees - the children in boats - the unfree freedom fighters - the flags torn and sewn - kids in the water never overthrown - only spin spin spin from the parliamentarians - the negativity versus the bravery - the token corporate slavery

sisters, brothers, fathers, mothers - we demand dignity - and art is our artillery

our tongues rush at the barricades - and in the desert street again she picks up a stone at the military - chanting no borders no nations - no borders no banks - no borders no politics - no borders no gods - no borders no masters - no borders no government - to tell me that - art is our artillery

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composed and delivered by allan boyd (antipoet) 10 nov 09 at scitech for: artilleryfestival.com

EXPERIMENTAL WRITING WORKSHOP - DEC 5 - PCWC JOONDALUP

NO BORDERS - NO NOTIONS: AN EXPERIMENTAL CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOP with Allan Boyd (aka the antipoet) Saturday 5th December 2009 - 1-4pm Peter Cowan Writers Centre - ECU Joondalup

Experienced performance poet, experimental writer, artist, musician and Curtin University writing teacher - Allan Boyd (aka the antipoet) debunks the so-called "writers-block" myth in a three-hour workshop.

Allan will attempt to demystify the process of creative writing and encourage participants to take an explorative, experimental and radical approach to the process of creative writing.

The workshop provides exercises and examples to unearth new ideas, exposing processes that are often unconscious.

This workshop is suitable for both beginners and experienced writers, and involves challenging exercises and opportunities to develop their skills.

TO BOOK: Peter Cowan Writers Centre
Office hours Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10am-3pm
Phone/Fax: 9301 2282
E-Mail cowan05@bigpond.com
Web: www.pcwc.org.au

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allan boyd (the antipoet)

Based in Perth, Western Australia, Allan Boyd has been delivering performance poetry at and organising dynamic poetry arts and music events since 1995.

He has performed his "difficult and acerbic words" as featured guest of the Queensland Poetry Festival; Melbourne Overload Poetry Festival; Newcastle This Is Not Art; Electrofringe and National Young Writers Festivals; the WA Poetry Festival; Artrage; Perth International Arts Festival; WA Fringe and others.

He is also singer/songwriter/guitarist for Perth original bands, MiteyKo and Blac Blocs - and creates music and soundscapes for film, theatre, tv and radio as well as live laptop sonics as Bozo.

Whilst studying creative writing at Curtin University he founded the popular Openmouth Poetry sessions at PICA Bar in Perth from 1996-2001, published a regular poetzine: Woodwork - as well as organised countless other poetry/music events since in WA, NSW and Melbourne.

His radical poetry and experimental short stories have been published in various journals and underground publications around Australia.

His Antipoet Manifesto, written as Emerging Writer in Residence at the Fellowship of Australian Writers WA in 2004, has been distributed across the planet.

Allan is a regular presenter/producer at Perth's largest community radio station RTRFM. He is also a web-designer/developer, administrator, graphic-artist, editor, activist, photographer and psuedo-journalistic hack.

Allan is the WA Poet Host for the Australian National Poetry Slam Perth heats.

Allan also facilitates workshops on performance poetry, experimental writing, zine-making, stencil-making and web-publishing.

He also teaches Creative Writing at Curtin University.