Sean Thompson-DeWolfe - Photoscapes

  by Robert Hadley

published: 1 / 3 / 2022

Sean Thompson-DeWolfe is a spoken word artist from Birmingham. These photographs by Robert Hadley were taken of Sean at a gig at Dead Wax on the 15th January for which he was the compere and also read his poetry. The gig was headlined by local band Low Red Moon, whose frontwoman Kaytee DeWolfe is Sean’s wife. Sean also dances in front of the stage at every Low Red Moon wearing costume and hand-made masks. The latter photo shows Sean shortly before their set wearing one based on a Japanese demon mask. We are privileged to publish one of Sean Thompson-DeWolfe’s poems, ‘Trains’. TRAINS At the station She hashtags me A glass of red wine Across the street Fat bingo queens hunt in packs Messaging me a dirty laugh That echoes like a Screech Down the railway track "Mate do you know where I am coming from" Everyone quietly fingers their phone Crawling insects Trying to reach a destination unknown I keep a folded up memory in my army jacket As a reminder Coz I always forget When I am away It wasn’t the right time She said Be with your family Why run a different path But last night my sister borrows money that i didn’t have I found her next day as empty as me Her pupils the colour of tar I coat my tongue in When I am up here...... When I am up here I stop words I really want to say Like I hate all the shit you shovelled into me The weed soaked street corners Narrow minded city spaces Chauvinistic school friends And how I should hang out in bars In fact in here I scream all this crap five times a day But all that comes out is “Yer sound iam alright You Are you ok?” I sit in the mouth of the dragon That woke me at 5am Its flames peel back years and years I try to run away from But you can never hide from childhood or childhood towns If under a pillows with a an eye patch on It always creeps back in Drip Drip Drip Crack You see I thought i had broken its back But now I see a queue All the way from my teenage years Angry pissed wanting to give me a Slap "Why don’t you grow up? Catch yourself on!!" Shouts Dad You told me I am not the same man But tonight it doesn’t feel like that T1raveling down roads I never fit in Places I don’t want to go Mates lean out of car windows Shout "Thomo come on You remember all this don’t yer Penny for the guy And all that And he is being flung on the bonfire later on Your bird isn’t here Hang out have a line Let’s crack open the beer After all the reds are on" Its 7am Your arms are trains And train rides away I want to fall into them I want you laugh at me Dispersing up my own ass I always felt such a round peg In this city’s square hole Let me kiss your forehead Hold you tight I just want too Squeeze out of this brick This mortar This worn cobbled stones Of my two up and two down houses That Curl round me Sharpe and hard Whispering “Stay quiet stay prone” It’s all just outdated structures Ancient mementos Abandoned high rise council flats Peeling damp corridors And rotten windows That I carry from way back when I am Stacked and stacked and stacked From the front to the back A Crumpled old garbage man I ve tried blackening out All their faces All their names But still their voices move within Predators swimming in my belly Preying on weaker parts of me I want to dismantle this whole disgusting circus And burn it to the ground Plaster dust dirty bathrooms and carpets spin and twirl to the floor Amongst Guinness and Carlsberg cans from all the nights here And the ones gone before I pick myself up Call a cab. She calls back Welcome home

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