{"id":151,"date":"2018-12-12T14:17:03","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T14:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsite.applesandsnakes.org\/?p=151"},"modified":"2018-12-17T17:52:52","modified_gmt":"2018-12-17T17:52:52","slug":"hunting-in-the-undergrowth-oakley-flanagan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/2018\/12\/12\/hunting-in-the-undergrowth-oakley-flanagan\/","title":{"rendered":"Hunting in the Undergrowth: Oakley Flanagan"},"content":{"rendered":"

I came across a piece of social-history by mistake. I\u2019d been researching the history of Battersea for Apples and Snakes\u2019 show Rallying Cry when I discovered that Battersea Park used to be a notorious cruising ground for gay men & even as late as the 90s there were clashes with the queer community & the police who were sending plain-clothes detectives into Battersea Park as a form of entrapment. I found an article published by the Independent back in 1994 with the headline: \u2018Gays Claim Harassment by Parks Police\u2019 & it led me back to thinking about protest & how little discoveries about our social history go to remind queer folks, or folks from other background who\u2019ve had their history kept from them that they have always been here which spurred me on to write a little something.<\/span><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hunting in the Undergrowth<\/span><\/p>\n

Battersea Park, 1994<\/span><\/p>\n

the men come with searchlights<\/span><\/p>\n

hunting in the undergrowth<\/span><\/p>\n

not our men our kind<\/span><\/p>\n

certainly not kind these<\/span><\/p>\n

dumpy plodding flat-foots<\/span><\/p>\n

spot \u2018em a mile off<\/span><\/p>\n

treading ground like<\/span><\/p>\n

Rottweilers<\/span><\/p>\n

dressed plainly as possible civilian-like<\/span><\/p>\n

but if you haven\u2019t got a home<\/span><\/p>\n

or a country of origin<\/span><\/p>\n

then you\u2019re not a civilian, are you? just a pariah,<\/span><\/p>\n

you learn to tailor clothes yourself<\/span><\/p>\n

the ones in shop windows never fit right<\/span><\/p>\n

so, they always get the clothes wrong,<\/span><\/p>\n

it\u2019s laughable really<\/span><\/p>\n

maybe try adding some colour to the grey<\/span><\/p>\n

bit of colour might help make the come-on<\/span><\/p>\n

make it believable might do you some good, officer<\/span><\/p>\n

because good is what you\u2019re not<\/span><\/p>\n

lardy long-armed<\/span><\/p>\n

phallic parody of power<\/span><\/p>\n

touting truncheon<\/span><\/p>\n

thinking you can beat out the gay<\/span><\/p>\n

but the gay getting Battersea\u2019d<\/span><\/p>\n

makes a protest of the physical<\/span><\/p>\n

copulating like snakes<\/span><\/p>\n

once bitten \u00a0\u00a0<\/span> still fucking<\/span><\/p>\n

turns to his brief husband<\/span><\/p>\n

mutters under heavy breath<\/span><\/p>\n

harder<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0faster<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

beat it into me<\/span><\/p>\n

again & again<\/span><\/p>\n

each bruise blossoming<\/span><\/p>\n

a different fractal of rainbow<\/span><\/p>\n

where the dew drops<\/span><\/p>\n

so a mushroom will sprout<\/span><\/p>\n

sometimes it\u2019s loud speakers<\/span><\/p>\n

playing all kinds of shit<\/span><\/p>\n

to deter us or to announce<\/span><\/p>\n

the arrival of the blue swarm<\/span><\/p>\n

flies hovering<\/span><\/p>\n

high<\/span><\/p>\n

above<\/span><\/p>\n

the head of a creature that\u2019s not quite dead yet<\/span><\/p>\n

classical shit<\/span><\/p>\n

like Britten<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m like, <\/span>darling<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0you did know Britten was a massive fairy<\/span><\/i>?<\/span><\/p>\n

bit embarrassing that <\/span> you have got to know our history<\/span><\/p>\n

if you\u2019re going to try convince me<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0stumbling ill-phrased<\/span><\/p>\n

pigeon polari<\/span> coaxing me into hand-cuffs<\/span><\/p>\n

your horizontal tongue betrays you<\/span><\/p>\n

fraud,<\/span><\/p>\n

you\u2019re a long way from home aren\u2019t you?<\/span><\/p>\n

wrong side of the River, copper<\/span><\/p>\n

disused Power Station is looking out \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0across the water\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n

like how Lighthouse Keepers might pray \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0for sailors<\/span><\/p>\n

to save [inside their fortification of flesh]<\/span><\/p>\n

from the blank totality of rock-face,<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014knows your number doesn\u2019t it?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0tell Mr Major I said <\/span>hey baby<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

let your dogs bark away like hyenas do howling witchery \u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

crack-down on this troubling tendency of offensive rustling in bushes\u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

make hetro the homo kingdom of mud, patrolling love<\/span><\/p>\n

with an iron fist & a boot because there will come a day<\/span><\/p>\n

where I will fashion dress, wedding suit & swaddling blanket of my velveteen rage<\/span><\/p>\n

wear it \u2013 loud over skin parading through high-streets in deference, no pointed stares<\/span><\/p>\n

you \u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

nothing<\/span><\/p>\n

but the shadow at my back<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo by Sabiheh Awanzai<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

First published September 2018<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I came across a piece of social-history by mistake. I\u2019d been researching the history of Battersea for Apples and Snakes\u2019 show Rallying Cry when I discovered that Battersea Park used to be a notorious cruising ground for gay men & even as late as the 90s there were clashes with the queer community & the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_surecart_dashboard_logo_width":"180px","_surecart_dashboard_show_logo":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_orders":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_invoices":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_subscriptions":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_downloads":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_billing":true,"_surecart_dashboard_navigation_account":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"article_type":[9],"class_list":["post-151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-as","article_type-read"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":49,"label":"A+S"}],"article_type":[{"value":9,"label":"Read"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/OakleyRallyingCry_Sept2018_PicMyahJeffers-e1545069166203-1024x873.jpg",1024,873,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"D237","author_link":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/author\/d237\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":49,"name":"A+S","slug":"as","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":49,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":192,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0","cat_ID":49,"category_count":192,"category_description":"","cat_name":"A+S","category_nicename":"as","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/applesandsnakes.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}