Never Hide. Run to each other, Dance with each other, Promise you will never hide, Live more, love more, LoveMore Pride. Open doors, do some flirting, It is lonely behind closed curtains. Every day this year feels right, Live more, love more, LoveMore Pride. Rainbow shining through the clouds, Dark times gone, we are proud, Rainbow arms held open wide, Live more, love more, LoveMore Pride. Once forbidden fascination, Beautiful creatures of creation, Make a bridge to the heavens, Rainbow prisms, colour spectrum. Every day this year feels right, Live more, love more, LoveMore Pride. Move to the music of this earth, Make a rainbow round the world, Open doors, step outside, Live more, love more, LoveMore Pride. Gather your colours, Hold on to each other, Promise you will never hide, Live more, love more, LoveMore Pride. Light a million candles for each other, Radiate your true colours, We will shine and never hide. We will shine, LoveMore Pride. Every day this year feels right, Live more, love more, LoveMore Pride. NOTES: [1] Never Hide was commissioned to celebrate LGBTIQ+ people and community as part the LoveMore Pride Exhibition held in Lismore, Widjabul Wia-bal Bundjalung country, Australia during World Pride Week 2023. It has been re-arranged and remixed for this release. [2] “It is lonely behind closed curtains. Every day this year feels right.” Inspired by song One Day Like This on the album Seldom Seem Kid by Elbow 2008. Craig Lee Potter, Guy Edward John Garvey, Mark Potter, Peter James Turner, Richard Barry Jupp. ‘Throw those curtains wide! One day like this a year would see me right.’ [3] “Light a million candles for each other.” Inspired by novel Orlando by Virginia Woolf 1928. ‘A million candles burnt in him without his being at the trouble of lighting a single one.’

Funk Off Darling! Funk off darling, If you can, There is no other option, Funk off darling, Make no plan, Dive into the future. Ira in a swimming suit, Standing at the mirror, In the darkened change room, Come dive into the water. Ira sitting, legs crossed Like two mating cobras, Sitting next to fat cat, Whose lurking, smug and lawless. Funk off darling, If you can, Because there is no option, They will burn your village, Kill your clan, Dive into the future. Black and white lines, lycra suit, Like the lines crossed over, Endless sun, nothing’s fine, A gulag with no borders, Summer day a prison cell, For your auctioned future, Summer sun a wasteland, Beside the blue green water. Ira in a swimming suit, Standing at the mirror, Ira sitting, legs crossed Like two mating cobras, Funk off darling, If you can, There is no other option, Funk off darling, Make no plan, Dive into the future.

Wolf Speak. I didn’t get to ride that carpet, No burn marks on my knees, I was gift wrapped for that journey But no one opened me. I sat there in a box, Wilting on the floor, Staring at 3 candles, And fist marks on the wall. I would have been on a hill top Howling at the full moon, If I hadn’t been there, The time when I met you. It was then that I saw you, Like haunted forever, Walking wounded, With the Night’s Watch gait, Eyes look with surprise when I speak, For you I will talk in wolf, You say you want to howl like me. That is why I am calling, You bristle when I gnash my teeth, Moan when I stroke your fur, On carpet oiled with winter green, Make your marks of wear and tear, Now these stone walls listen, They can hear your laughing bark, The silicon sand stones glisten Send their messages in the dark.

Beautiful Vipers. Beautiful vipers of this mercenary world, Slither skin-tight through the maze, Quick witted, darting in their shiny clothes, Weaving through the dark streets, Leaving a glistening tread on the misty footpath, Gone before you have time to turn your head, Leaving a sense of unknowable beauty. Awakened and Woke in this age of the Apocalypse, Angels flung into a drowsy Pandemonium, What other choice in these last days? Become more viperish, hypnotise then strike, Encircle the boomers, lead them away to dorms, Be merciful, they have their indulgences, These old beings like a treat, a token is enough. Regretful of all that was not done to save this Paradise, They have only possessions to give. Reactive, brittle, invasive. These city men are jumpy like cats, Wanting life their own way, Down to the infinite detail, They rub and purr, Consume what is on offer, Confident it will be just what they want, Knowing it is already tailored to their desires, Why so jumpy then? There is a tiny narcissist waiting in a room, While he is growing larger, In time he will consume Each day is getting smarter, Lessons he will learn, What the punters don’t see He will watch and wait his turn. Beautiful vipers of this mercenary world, Slither skin-tight through the maze, Awakened and Woke in this age of the apocalypse, What other choice in these last days? Of this drowsy Pandemonium. Dormant in a world we sacrifice, Left with a sense of unknowable beauty. While we forgot to save our Paradise. Dozing in a world we sacrifice, Gone before we had time to raise our head, We forgot to save our paradise. NOTES: [1] “We forgot to save our paradise.” Inspired by Big Yellow Taxi on album Ladies of the Canyon by Joni Mitchell 1970 © January 7, 1970; Siquomb Publishing Corp. ‘Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone? They paved paradise…’

Watcher On The Wall. Watcher on the Tower Wall Guards the fortress stronghold, Captives taken, others fallen, We move with forces opposing. I see you looking out for danger, Dark watcher on the tower, Wary of the midnight stranger, Who walks in with the moon clouds. The enemies, they will strike In many different ways, you fear, The blast, the knife, the bow and arrow, I watch the master sleeping here, I keep my place beside the hearth, Rake the coals, I watch the flame, Until the master stirs on his pillows, Seeks his comfort, to feel safe. The fire, the dogs, the supper bowl, You stare into the night sky clear, But he will not last until tomorrow. There are shadows moving here. We move in a life grim and brutal, Lives are taken, others are chained. I become the threat within these walls, While you are looking the other way. I will fly in the face of peril, Hear my breathing far away. Feel my eyes upon your shoulder, You will know the choice I make. I will fly in the face of peril, Hear my breathing far away. Feel my eyes upon your shoulder, You will know the choice I make.

Merciless Chain. If they strike me down with a merciless chain, If they slay me now, will it ease their pain? The end will come, so much sooner, When still in the past they remain. When they hold on to resist the future, When they rattle that merciless chain. The end will come, so much sooner, With the rattle of the merciless chain. The traumatized ocean will conquer, The forest will burst into flame, From the actions of those who surrender, To the grip of the merciless chain. I call back seven generations, Whose prayers I say over again, To promise the next generations, Those prayers will not be in vain. My mind sees the scythe and the spindle, In the mud, in the fields of Ukraine, While the hands that held hammer and sickle, Are enslaved by a merciless chain. See fields where linen flax is drying, Spun fibres, together we made, Cloth of mercy, threads entwining, Weaving a flag, blood will not stain. If I, in my heart, will surrender, When I think of the merciless chain, The end will come, so much sooner, With the rattle, of the merciless chain In a war of fear, in the name of hatred, In our hands the future remains, Not to surrender our lives to torment, Never be bound to a merciless chain. NOTES: [1] “Not to surrender our lives to torment, Never be bound to a merciless chain.” Merciless Beauty: a triple rondel Geoffrey Chaucer circa 1340 – 1400 translated by Michael R Burch. ‘Pity, that it’s useless to complain; For Pride now holds your mercy by a chain.’

Mercy Unchained. Resist this merciless chain, Threads of hope are mending. Cloth of mercy, cloth of faith, Mercy forever, without chains. The spinners look up from their twining, On their faces one question. Why?

Truce With A Bear. I shall hold back no longer, As from this I have been spared, For if, in silence lie the guilty, I say make no truce with a bear. We can only dream of freedom, Mercy forever without chains, No truces can ever be made, While a bear holds onto your chain. The bear will ravage when hungry, And starving will forever remain, While the past still rumbles its bowels, And the bear is rattling your chain. But I shall hold back no longer, From this I have been spared, For if in silence lie the guilty, I say make no truce with a bear. In this world of bears and dragons, The eagle fears the flame, Hovering between the bombs and the sun, The dragon will rise again. They are not the one the sun turns to see, We will not lie down and meekly plead, With all Gods and Prophets, we make peace, Hold onto our fine flax fabric, mercy in the weave. So, we shall slumber no longer, Pray that we will be spared, Scan the skies for the dragon, And make no truce with a bear. NOTES: [1] “Truce With A Bear” title from The Truce of The Bear Rudyard Kipling. 1898. [2] From this I have been spared.” Quoted from Martha Bakhtiari, healer and teacher, spoken in 2018. [3] “They are not the one the sun turns to see,” Dante’s Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto 33 circa 1320 ‘In even motion, by the Love impell’d, That moves the sun in heav’n and all the stars.’

The Savage Claw. Strike Lightning on cities of refuge, Slayed by the savage claw, Vanished but not forgotten, Still with one question. More? I read of the Book of Sorrows, Of Shenja, who plays in Odessa no more. Iron Guards, dogs and rifle butts, Neighbours slayed by the savage claw. With the butcher’s arms around us, We can make no plans for the future, Only rearrange in our minds the stories, Of times that have gone before. When we walked from the stronghold fortress, Pass the river flowing, quietly, Down to the Mother of Waters Where seagrasses nourish the sea. Taken in merciless savagery, What they do and what they will be. Choke with a ligature bridge, Claws over this captured sea. To be reclaimed with Norwegian Leopards, Our Trident will guard the seas. We will find mushrooms deep in the forests, Harvest our grain from the fields, We are not revengers of blood, To slay with a savage claw, To an eternity wrapped in smoke, We know rage burns for evermore, Light shining on cities of refuge, Not to be slayed by the savage claw, Remembered, never forgotten, No longer the question. More? NOTES: [1] “…Still with one question. More? I read of the Book of Sorrows, Of Shenja, who plays in Odessa no more. Iron Guards, dogs and rifle butts, Neighbours slayed by the savage claw.” Deutsche Welle journalist Anastassia Boutsko 10/22/2018 writes about Mihail Zaslavsky. The only memory of the 1941 Odessa massacre. My sister Eva, 12 years old, and another sister, Shenja, who was 9, my young brother Ilja, who I had carried there. My mother had baby Anna in her arms. They were all burned to death. They became ashes. It is said that the smell of the burned bodies was in the air for several days. ….. On October 19, 1941, a fascist Romanian officer came to our house with two soldiers and a Ukrainian interpreter. We were told, "Jews, pack your things! You have 20 minutes." My mother grabbed what she could. When we came out, the neighbors from our house were standing at the gate. I looked around. There were neighbors from the surrounding houses in front of every gate: the boys with whom I played football and grew up with, people I saw every day, neighbors who were friends or enemies. All these people had one question written on their faces: "Why?" [2] “With the butcher’s arms around us, We can make no plans for the future,” Bertolt Brecht “Hitler Chorale” c 1930 ‘After long years he’s found you You’ve reached your goal at last. The butcher’s arms are round you He holds you to him fast.’

Dance of Gentle Uncertainty. In uncertain quiet, in a troubled land, Where nothing is taken for granted, I hold out my palm, offer my hand, For your fingers to rest, as we intended. We dance in a Chain of Hands Circle, Our feet find the rhythm, then begin, To dance in a slow moving circle, A river unwinding, within, Each of us brushing shoulders, While we weave in and out, in between. Turn, move around to my shoulder, The warp is made, I’ll move in between. Turn, look over your shoulder, Feel the strength within the weave. We shall move like we are floating, With our gowns sweeping over our toes, We laugh as we dance to the polka, Waltz with lovers our arms to enfold, We can whirl like Circassian nobles, Who glide through the air like a cloud. We emerge from Beech and Oak forests, Peace stands in the face of history, Away from the feuds of the old times, When slavery ruled the Black Sea. We move around forces opposing, Unseen, strength forms into the weave. Turn, look over your shoulder, The warp is made, I’ll move in between. Turn, move around to my shoulder, Feel the strength within the weave. Turn, look over your shoulder, The warp is made, I’ll move in between. Turn, move around to my shoulder, Feel the strength within the weave.

In Our Hearts, On Our Lips. First they see our beauty, Then they see our fear, Then their feel the power Gratify their cruelty. Truth to Power is how it is, In our Heart, On our Lips. But you see we are uncaged, We have swallowed the only key, Throwing stones, come back your way, Flight path flown, we are released. Truth to Power is how it is, In our Heart, On our Lips. We are a force of nature, A beloved fact of life, A bird of rainbow feather, Honey bee words in our mouth. Truth to Power is how it is, In our Heart, On our Lips. When we share our stories, Our soul’s journey is set free, We will embrace our suffering, And justice we shall seek. Truth to Power is how it is, In our Hearts, On our Lips. NOTES: [1] “First they see our beauty, Then they see our fear,” Alok Vaid-Menon, 2020, Beyond The Gender Binary, Penguin Workshop. ‘The days that I feel most beautiful are the days that I am most afraid.’ [2] “And justice we shall seek.” Isiah 1:17 Bible Gateway (NIV) ‘Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.’

Emerge From Silence A few words are spoken, This is how it goes. There is someone, to listen, Then our story starts to flow. Yes, we should have someone to listen, Share some feelings, Sorrows, joy. Speak of our hopes and wishes, Unfold our dreams, Make a choice. Emerge from silence, Find our voice. Be that someone who will listen, Share some feelings, sorrows, joy. Be that someone they can trust in, Emerge from silence, find their voice. A few words, are spoken, This is how it goes. What is left, when all is said, and done, Emerge from silence, find your voice.