The Oken Stone Podcast

This is a short story about getting lost in the dark. Part of the problem is that you can only get lost if you knew where you were in the first place, and the problem with darkness is knowing whether or not you have your eyes open.

This story may be metaphorical, in which case it is an abstract moment, an existential crisis. Or it may be true, which could make it into a variety of horror story. But then, there is that mid point at which it could be either.

Sound for the story was constructed live in The Arches, Glasgow in 2011 with Jamie Hall and Callum Mcaskill for my show called The Treadmill Poets. As with almost all live work, it was a brief moment in history. The Arches themselves were closed and Glasgow lost one of its best venues.

I have heard it said that melancholy is a desirable state of mind in some Northern lattitudes, possibly as a coping mechanism for longer winter nights. This story could certainly be described as such.

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However, a shadow moved swiftly, thrown down onto the land by a majestic golden eagle, last of its kind on the mountain. Even as the beak of the tortoise closed upon the exquisite blooms, the eagle stooped........

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https://oceanallover.bandcamp.com/album/orographic

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.....and even as the eagle soared above the rocky slopes, the tortoise encaged in its talons, the petals encaged in the jaws of the reptile, so a young naturalist ran forwards - last of his kind, taxidermy on his mind.............. The stricken eagle fell amongst a drift of feathers and petals, releasing the scaled misile from its grasp and joining all four together in death upon the shoulder of the mountain.

Man

Cracked my head, in single strike
as I ran forward in earnest haste
to collect my prized, beloved bird
shot clean through and through
to find its ordered home amongst
museum draws and taxiderma
tologists contortioning
your dark and burning eyes become
vitrified and shattered
my cranium in blow un seen
as from the sky a lilac flower
fell, my leaden body sliding
to the ground in avalanche
of crushed ambitions here, upon
a scree slope inverted hopes
discovery and erudition
science through observation keen,
the bullet of my eyes.

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https://oceanallover.bandcamp.com/album/orographic

Buy our music on Bandcamp and help us to bring you more stories and music.

The Orographic album was recorded, mixed & mastered by Stuart Hamilton 
 (Castlesound Studios, 12th-14th September 2018) 
 
 Produced by Guy Veale  
 
 © Oceanallover 2018 
 
 Lead vocals - Joel Sanderson, Breezy Elthalion & Catherine Carter 
 Bass & cello - Joel Sanderson  
 Trumpet, helicon & backing vocals - Richard Merchant 
 Trombone & backing vocals - Roger Marsh 
 Bass trombone & backing vocals - Ross McCrae 
 Percussion & backing vocals - Anders Rigg 
 Spoken word - Alex Rigg 
 Electronics & keys - Guy Veale  
 
 Lyrics & album design - Alex Rigg

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Thanks very much for listening. Art is an act of generosity and as such is made to be shared.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theokenstone.substack.com/subscribe

Upon the Mountainside there is a flower, a most beautiful flower, last of its kind. It is opening its petals to the sky, an invitation and a celebration..........

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Go to:

https://oceanallover.bandcamp.com/album/orographic

and listen to the whole album.

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Thanks very much for listening. Art is an act of generosity and as such is made to be shared.

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On the lower slopes a tortoise had begun its ascent. Armoured carapace, last of its kind. Hungry and smelling petals on the air......

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Thanks very much for listening. Art is an act of generosity and as such is made to be shared.

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In which you discover a door in your own foot, and enter through it.

Out

I’ll take a story from you, hillside;
I’ll make something from you, something deep
like a door in your foot, a way in.
There will be singing, voices raised
and the gravity of mysteries that erupt
as small flowers around your shoulders.
We will go up with our eyes over and over again
until we live inside the land in our minds.
You will wear clouds on cold days around your neck
and press your head into the blue-black void.

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https://oceanallover.bandcamp.com/

Listen to all of the music from Orographic by Oceanallover.

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Thanks very much for listening. Art is an act of generosity and as such is made to be shared.

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You continue to ascend, becoming less and less of yourself and more and more mountainous............

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You begin to climb the mountain. Perspectives slide. You find a door..........

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In which the mountain appears before you in many guises. All is what it seems it is not. You are lost until...................

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This is a short introduction to a series of episodes that bring you a story about mountains.

Companion (On the Way)

On your mountain there are trails
with little indication of where
they may lead, and even less
of who made them.
The thorns and open meadows
at your feet lead the walker’s eye
but confound their souls with
perspective shifts and obscured vistas.
Once embarked upon this journey
I will travel through your landscape
until my legs cannot walk any further
and my eyes close and my knowing
is the knowing of you.
There is no map nor magnetic needle
and each moment is both perilous and beautiful.
At times within the wandering
of my own mind the journey of you
and the journey of me becomes the
same place, and looking at my
arm outstretched I am not sure whose
limb it is nor who is asking my
body to move.
At this time, in this place,
there is only you and me and the steps
that we must take together.

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Music from the Oceanallover Orographic project is available on our Bandcamp page:

https://oceanallover.bandcamp.com/

If you would like to support our work then please buy our music.

Support the show

Thanks very much for listening. Art is an act of generosity and as such is made to be shared.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theokenstone.substack.com/subscribe