VEGETABLE RITES / BIRDS IN THE MOON, installation with Reinhard Reitzenstein & Patty Wallace [Collaboration], Stewart Hall Gallery, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, December 2007
ROUNDHEAD MOONSHOT
What think you, Noll? ‘Tis plain a case
As yonder wart upon thy face
We’ll put a celestial chariot into space
For England!
A celestial chariot? Aye, yet more than such
To fight the French or drub the Dutch
Though by compare might cost as much
I trow you
With cannon to propel the thing
And harnessed geese to take wing
The glory ours and damn the King
That coxcomb.
To boldly go where none have trod
The first to plough the lunar sod
Faith Noll, men say the notion’s odd
I grant you
To watch Endymion from the moon
When they could be at Bath as soon
Now coaches take all afternoon
Through London
Yet think, Noll, ‘twould be no disgrace
Whilst papist plots pervade this place
To put a Roundhead into space
To trump them.
We needs must make it sturdy, mind
The finest oak that we can find
This caulked with pitch and leather-lined
For safety
The moon and all its peoples wait
To join your new protectorate
Break out that sack. Let’s celebrate
What think you?