The Tall Man Chronicles is a long gestating project that I have spent a lot of time thinking about. It is mostly complete from a text point of view but I initially shelved it because I decided to recreate many of the photographs that were meant to accompany the book. I have gained some knowledge in both photography and writing since I started playing with the concept back in 2014.
Perhaps I will employ some of these new techniques in reviving the project one day. But my new philosophy is no deadlines (where possible) and the consequence of this can mean projects take a long time to complete but it takes the pressure off and for me has resulted in new found creativity. Here is one of my favourite poems from the Tall Man collection.
The Rise of Man and so Much Machinery
In the year 5 ATAF*
A clearing was made
Blood metal shattering the dark blue sky
The Wizened King chuckled
He knew this day would come
“Let it begin then as it must”
Men who started out wide-eyed and with peace in
Their souls
Grew muscles
And greedy
Their eyes blackened by the trickster called
Progress
CHOP CHOP
The new hymn of the land
Hacked, ripped and shaken
The trees appalled
As one by one they are murdered
Victim of the saw
Buildings and concrete now to the fore
Twisted metal deformity rising into the skies
Blocking the sun
Nothing is growing
But it is hot
Much hotter than any hell
Imagined or created in the mind of Dante
Wisps of cloud churned into black
Smoking decadence
The ground turned to ash
Oil and smoking chimneys bellowing
Ferocious toxins
Invisible liquids escaping from fridges
Rubbish heaps full of used nappies
Flying metal monsters
Dripping chemicals and lies
The animals are herded
Force fed supplements
Tall Man
Weeps in dignified pent-up silence
A house built on his toes
Once friends in harmony
Man now a deadly foe
Burn down the garden of Eden
No room for paradise to grow
Farewell Magmell
Elysian Fields in decay
The land of trees soon to be gone
Moksha already with us
Now in flames
*After the Axe fell
© John de Gruyther 2014
Words and Photography by John de Gruyther
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/recreate/#like-254432
The World Outside the Window 