“Crackle Hum”
pencil on Fabriano 75 lb
5.5 x 8.5 | 14 x 21.6 cm
March 4 2023

Crackle Hum

The sound of paranoia and anxiety permeated the landscape

Of radio waves of my youth

The sound of vacuum tubes of AM radio

It began with the Bay of Pigs

And JFK on the brink of pushing the button

to listening to the news of the Vietnam War

Crackle hum

“The Fall of America” of Allen Ginsberg

That chorus of crackle hum

Naming the paranoia of war

“5 to 1” from The Doors

Giving way to the Revolution

Would LSD cause me to think I could fly

It only took the statistic of one to make

That reality another crackle hum

Transistors in the wires of anxiety

Numbed a generation to this landscape

Anxiety without a soundtrack is louder

The spirituality of turning the channel to no station

Sitting for hours watching the white noise

Hoping for an alien message as hope

That we aren't alone and salvation for humanity

Isn't dependent upon us

The crackle hum of high tension wires

Electrifies the air of this landscape

The air is thick with radio waves

Each person's voice has its own broadcasting station

Cellular and diminished to bars on a screen

Can you hear me now?

Digitally breaking up

Crackle crackle hum

Oliver Loveday © June 12, 2023