Excerpted from Separation EnergyIt is also included in my upcoming book, October.October 20thThe temperature has dropped,  the constructs have vanished,  and the woman  the lab assistant’s been seeing  will not return his calls.He shakes his head, saying,The tensile strength of the bridge cableswill not hold if the vibration continues at these unprecedented levels.  How will it continue to function, he wonders, if the party in power channels her resources towards some candidate of unknown potential?Only the victim, he says, ear to the ground, will know and only after speech has failed him already.

No Way Out but Through

October 20th

This is excerpted from Episode 4: Separation EnergySweet Darknessby David WhyteWhen your eyes are tiredthe world is tired also.When your vision has gone,no part of the world can find you.Time to go into the darkwhere the night has eyesto recognize its own.There you can be sureyou are not beyond love.The dark will be your hometonight.The night will give you a horizonfurther than you can see.You must learn one thing.The world was made to be free in.Give up all the other worldsexcept the one to which you belong.Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweetconfinement of your alonenessto learnanything or anyonethat does not bring you aliveis too small for you. 

Sweet Darkness

This is excerpted from Episode 4: Separation EnergyWhen Death ComesBy Mary OliverWhen death comeslike the hungry bear in autumn;when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purseto buy me, and snaps the purse shut;when death comeslike the measle-poxwhen death comeslike an iceberg between the shoulder blades,I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?And therefore I look upon everythingas a brotherhood and a sisterhood,and I look upon time as no more than an idea,and I consider eternity as another possibility,and I think of each life as a flower, as commonas a field daisy, and as singular,and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,tending, as all music does, toward silence,and each body a lion of courage, and somethingprecious to the earth.When it's over, I want to say all my lifeI was a bride married to amazement.I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.When it's over, I don't want to wonderif I have made of my life something particular, and real.I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,or full of argument.I don't want to end up simply having visited this worldMore on Mary Oliver 1935-2019

When Death Comes

Lines to a Poetby Josephine JacobsenBe careful what you say to us now.The street-lamp is smashed, the window is jagged,There is a man dead in his blood by the base of the fountain.If you speak,You cannot be delicate or sad or clever.Some other hour, in a moist April,We will consider similes for the budding larches.You can teach our wits and our fancy then;By a green-lit midnight in your studyWe will delve into your sparkling rock.But now at dreadful high noonYou may speak only to our heart,Our honor and our need:Saying such things as, “See, she is alive . . . “Or “Here is water,” or “Look behind you!”Josephine Jacobsen (19 August 1908 – 9 July 2003) was a Canadian-born American poet, short story writer, essayist, and critic. She was appointed the twenty-first Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1971.[2] In 1997, she received the Poetry Society of America’s highest award, the Robert Frost Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry.More about her here:https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/josephine-jacobsenMusic and performance ©2020 by Scott Taylor

Lines to a Poet

A performance of Lawrence Ferlinghetti's great poem I am Waiting—excerpted from episode 4: Separation Energy. Music and performance by Scott Taylor ©2020.  Listen to the whole show here: Separation Energy 

I am Waiting

Stories, poems, and monologues with music for that special sheltering-at-home time of your life.1. Messages (Taylor): A woman sends messengers into the afterworld 2. Sweet Darkness (David Whyte): Time to go into the dark where the night has eyes to recognize its own. There you can be sure you are not beyond love.3. Cosmodemonic (Taylor):  If you want to speak to a human being who will sympathize and empathize, someone who will actually listen to you and help you to solve your problems, please press 9 now4. I am Waiting (Lawrence Ferlinghetti): I am waiting for the American Eagle to really spread its wings and straighten up and fly right. . . and I am waiting for a reconstructed Mayflower to reach America with its picture story and tv rights sold in advance to the natives5. Separation Energy (Taylor): How will it continue to function, he wonders, if the party in power channels her resources towards some candidate of unknown potential?6. When Death Comes (Mary Oliver): When death comes like the hungry bear in autumn; when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse to buy me, and snaps the purse shut . . .© 2020 Words and Music by Scott Taylor, unless otherwise noted.Poetry credits:Sweet Darkness by David WhyteI am Waiting by Lawrence FerlinghettiWhen Death Comes by Mary OliverSFX Credit Attribution:Latin Elevator Muzak by achase4u/Pond5Phone, internal, ring, standard by bigroomsound/Pond5

Separation Energy

An excerpt from Episode3: Matter    The Race is On  (after George Jones, with inspiration from Tom Durkin and Larry Collmus)  ...Now on the back stretch,Happily Married is leading along the railfollowed by Is This All There IsStuck in the Middle with You is three lengths backit’s still Happily Married, Is This All There Is,and here comes Late Night at Work,now Attractive Secretary is making her move,is This All There Is has moved in front of Happily Married,Attractive Secretary is looking good,it’s Late Night at Work, How About a Nightcap,it’s Instant Fires, and then Drunken Evening,Happily Married has fallen off the pace,It’s Attractive Secretaryand now Red Camaro is coming on hard...Words and music © 2020 by Scott Taylor   Transcript at Scott Taylor's cover is blown

The Race is On

An excerpt from Episode 1: Past TenseInescapableThe past is the pitcherwho does not botherbacking you off the plate with high heatbut simply throws at your unhelmeted head.The past is the catcher who kicks you in the nutswhile you’re sprawled out on the ground.The past is the umpire who laughs,and calls you out.Words and music © 2020 by Scott Taylor   Transcript at Scott Taylor's cover is blown

The Past Comes Calling

Imagine yourself in the middle of a world-destroying catastrophe. Now imagine that we have a short quiz for you. It won’t take but a minute. The world is a dusty, dark chaos, and the trap our unreliable narrator finds himself in, gets more dire as the story goes on. Agents Angstrom and Kinski find themselves in a different kind of trap—and due to a lack of budget, and thus, vocal talent, poor Kinski doesn’t even get a speaking part. An announcement that the hit show Arena is returning to the air tonight to answer the question, “What Happens After We Die?” Then The Race is On—with apologies to George Jones, Tom Durkin, and Larry Collmus. And finally, a poem about life, the universe, and everything.A warning for the wary listener: everyone dies in this one.Words and music © 2019 by Scott Taylor   Transcript at Scott Taylor's cover is blownSFX Credit Attribution:Horses Racetrack, Montevideo, Uru provided by sounddogs/ Pond5Horse Racing Crowd Cheering At End Of Flat Race provided by soundsvisual/Pond5Race Track Crowd, Gates Open provided by ProSoundEffects/Pond5Horse Race Meeting Crowd provided by jfxsound/Pond5War Drums provided by jmac713/Pond5Wind Desert Sand provided by clacksfx/Pond5Rain hitting roof provided by quietswede/Pond5

Matter

A chance meeting at the airport, a serious case of misplaced empathy, and an obsession that destroys everything.This show is actually Episode 0. It was originally recorded in November 2018, and released on my YouTube channel. Because of the feedback I received—and the fact that I had a great time making it—I decided to change gears and develop No Way Out but Through.Words and music © 2019 by Scott Taylor   Transcript at Scott Taylor's cover is blown

Afterimage

A psychic finds a strange piece of metal with a map brought back from her dreams. Scott draws some questionable conclusions about the present, based on serial misreadings of his own past. A town reacts to long-awaited infernal signs. The Past is your permanent crazy ex who knows all your passwords—and secrets—by heart. From the radio desk, Scott suggests a weekend activity for the kids at the Armory, involving art and knives. He then gives a quick update about last week's freak eclipse. And finally, a time-travel caper.  Words and music © 2019 by Scott Taylor   Transcript at Scott Taylor's cover is blown

Past Tense

No interviews! No instruction! No heartwarming stories about personal growth! This podcast mixes monologues, poems, and stories into deliciously dark surrealist audio entertainment—with a beat. Scott Taylor is your unreliable narrator.

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No Way Out but Through

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