T.E. Yates is a beautiful character. He’s not quite like the rest of us. In his performance, he presents us with absolutely nothing, but himself. He aspires to no grandeur. He simply serves, on a white plate, in the manner of one offering a wet, cold fish, reluctant and cantankerous… offers, simply, his very soul.

Today, he helped me. I borrowed his computer, to use the software he had, to design a cover for my single.

Here’s what I wrote, in the time spent waiting for the thing to work:

T E Yate’s Laptop

Toshiba has a grey face.
A palm has worn him black on the cheek,
the best of a decade’s warmth.

He is a philosophical machine.

Woe betide the reckless youth,
who approaches him with bubbling vigorous enthusiasm.

He has lessons to teach us, all.

Should you so chose to make a request – or
suggestion,
Toshiba will consider your choice, generously,
his meditation accompanied by the click, clack,
clocking sound of some internal robotic wind-chimes.

Often, he will deem it amusing,
to bestow your childish toils with a patronising acquiescence.

However, it is only once you’ve completed your slow tasks,
and closed the window at last,
that you see his illuminating wallpaper.

It depicts an arctic sledge, a far off jetplane,
a Himalayan cabin and the silhouette of a man,
fishing meditatively before an ocean sunset.

The caption reads, ‘Choose freedom’.
It is then that you realise, truly, how wise Toshiba is.

T.E. Yates on Scenewipe
Scenewipe re-launch show

Tags: Alabaster Deplume, Iron Mountain, Zen

This entry was posted on October 11, 2011 at 12:59 pm and is filed under Featured, Tonight From Iron Moutain. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.