This Is Not A Drill

Here is the latest evolution of that idea of a "concertina" book presented in a frame. To be honest, I think I have come to prefer the idea of a printed trompe l'oeil mockup to creating an actual object. I also like the idea of combining words and pictures in this way.

The words are mine. Like anyone who enjoys poetry, I keep notebooks full of bits of language that pop into my head, just in case one day I decide to sit down and actually do the hard work of making some poems myself. Any fellow tinnitus sufferers will know what I'm talking about, in this case. The title "This is Not a Drill" refers, on the one hand, to the phantom noises that plague us in the deep silence of night, and on the other to Magritte's famous painting, The Treachery of Images (probably better known by the text inscribed below a painted tobacco pipe: "Ceci n'est pas une pipe").

These are also, of course, the dreaded words that announce some impending disaster, like a major fire or some other dreadful incident, for which careful preparatory arrangements have been made and rehearsed. I know, I know... I'm a cheerful chap, really. Originally, I was playing with Leonard Cohen's words from Anthem (you know the ones, "There is a crack in everything / That's how the light gets in") but it's become such a cliché in recent times and, besides, why would I not use those words gifted to me in quiet minutes, which I scribble down before they're gone again?

So here it is again, served flat. Sorry if it's a bit too big for your device. I've a feeling there are going to be more of these.