Michael Parkinson - d. August 16th 2023

You perfected the craft of the question;
not to ask but to leave the door open.
The breeze of jazz blows one last time
and you step from the wings to talk
with titans, where boxer and emu wait.

Read about Michael Parkinson here

Robbie Shepherd - d. August 1st 2023

Come awa an daunce wi us eence mair

birl oot aa the pattrens o the leid
in yer mither tongue, that wull niver dee
gin you an yer like keep it in mait.
The fleer is yer ain. The wird is oors.

 
(Doric translation by Sheila Templeton)

Come and dance with us again,
birl those sequences of language
in a tongue that cannot die
while such as you are feeding it.
The floor is yours. The word is ours.

Read about Robbie Shepherd here

Robbie Robertson - d. August 9th 2023

Down in the basement,
feeling half past dead,
yet you are jamming still,
rags and shuffles, no frills,
just rock’s blank canvas:
saturated pinks and blues. 

Read about Robbie Robertson here

Jamie Reid - d. August 8th 2023

Didn’t you design the
rebellion? More than a
page, a record label,
all that bollocks,
it was gob and wit and
razor blades. Oh yes,
I knew your type.

Read about Jamie Reid here

William Friedkin - d. August 7th 2023

There is a demon in the reels,
directed by a voice behind the lens.
It is bloody and profane, demanding
my eyes, my ears, my imagination.
I need only see it once to know
it will possess me till I too am dead.

Read about William Friedkin here

Carl Davis - d. August 3rd 2023

Music learns from its subject,
pitching the anguish of war,
the machinery of heartbreak,
quaint delicacies of manners,
seeking subtleties of the lens
to score sound direct from light.

Read about Carl Davis here