Sunsets & Kites

By Flloyd Kennedy

Aussie-born, Liverpool-based actress, singer-songwriter, performance poet and podcaster ("AmI Old Yet?) Flloyd Kennedy has lived, trained, worked and performed in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Nigeria, Russia, USA and England. She draws upon her personal experience of life, not as memoir but as a means of making some kind of sense the chaos, kindness and absurdity around her.  Whether she's celebrating the Singing Beetle, analysing the Anatomy of Despair, dreaming of a fantasy lover or exposing the nonsence of Austerity, she uses wry wit and a philosophical turn to reveal the world in a different, scattered light. 

 

"Flloyd Kennedy's collection is the real deal: honest, unsparing, hilarious and heartfelt.  Her wryly observed stories, told in poetry and song, will stay with you long after you've finished reading, and re-reading, again and again."  Lauren Grodstein, author of Our Short History and A Friend of the Family

 

***** Lovely relatable short poems for all ages

"A much needed read for women all ages. Beautiful short poems that are very relatable and easy to read. Have a laugh, maybe a little cry but for sure enjoy yourself while you immerse in Flloyd's universe."

 

***** "Flloyd Kennedy writes from the heart about the past and present day. The poems, essays and song lyrics will make you stop and ponder on the topics covered. It made me laugh (In defence of the so called lying Cretan) and brought a tear to my eye (Am I Old Yet?). Do your soul a favour and buy a copy"

 

Cover Art by  (c) Terry Cripps 2020

• Language: English
• Publisher: Flloyd Kennedy
• Release date: Jan 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201497897

Book preview

Sunsets & Kites

scatterings of light and dark in poems,

songs and essays

Flloyd Kennedy

LIVERPOOL

Copyright © 2022 by Flloyd Kennedy

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form  by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner, except for short quotes for the purpose of academic publications and reviews. All of the images, unless otherwise attributed, are by Flloyd Kennedy.

For information, contact

[e-mail].

www.flloydkennedy.com

@flloydwith2ells

Bandcamp:

https://flloydwith2ells.bandcamp.com/

releases

Cover image:

© Terry Cripps 2020 - www.169.org.uk

Dedication

To my beloved sons, Iain and Roderick, who continue to inspire and educate me as they have done for as long as I have known them.

Contents

Dedication

I've Been Thinking...

What time is it?

I have a theory

Five point plan

Games of love and war

If I wanted to

It's a Paradox...

Am I old yet?

— Coming, ready or not

Seventy-five not out

Grouchy Old Woman

Anatomy of despair

Mother William

But I've Been Here Before...

View from Mt Coot-tha

Breathing out

My heart is in your keeping

I can hardly hear you

A dream

Obsession

In defence of the (so-called) Lying Cretan

For Iain - on the occasion of his 10th birthday

Song Lyrics

The singing beetle

Sometimes I think

The comeback queen gives herself a jolly good talking to

A loving hold

Merry go round of life

The good old days

Where the old folk go

The bottom line

Australia Fair no more

When I was a little girl

Sunsets and kites

About the Author

Acknowledgements

I've Been Thinking...

A rodent looking at the camera Description automatically generated

What time is it?

I am haunted by my present.

It ghosts me.

The past is a place that keeps me

from disappearing

into non-existence.

––––––––

We are always in the future.

Everything we see or hear

has already occurred.

To others, we are always

in the past.

No one is an island

but we are all alone

nonetheless.

––––––––

And somewhere, always out of reach

because of course

it's in the fourth dimension.

there is an Anti-Matter Factory.

That's where clocks are made

defining that which doesn't matter.

They tick and click each second

into and out of existence

in a single instant.

––––––––

Here, in our earthly three dimensions,

we clutch at moments, hours, years

tripping unknowingly

through the seconds

failing to celebrate

each eventuality

even as it dawns into being

and dissolves.

––––––––

If I were a fly, living at speeds unimaginable

I would capture those seconds

rich and random.

I would wonder at

the sluggishness of humanity

pondering aimlessly

round and round

always ignorant of the wonder

the magnificence of each

unending

momentous,

instantiated blending

of time, space

and what really matters ...

I have a theory

Big is not necessarily bold

more is not necessarily better

growth is not necessarily healthy

uncertainty is not necessarily

the same as insecurity

borders are not necessarily

threatening

and democracy is not a system.

It's a process.

––––––––

Men are not necessarily macho

women are not necessarily