The NΦⵣMA PΦⵣMA streetwear collection, named after the codex that inspired it, seamlesslytranslates into affordable, wearable art, crafted from organic cotton.
⏀Wearable Poetics: The apparel acts as an extension of the literature’s radical artistic resistance, turning garments into a physical canvas for philosophical concepts and themes.
⏀The Tifinagh “ⵣ” Brand Icon: The inclusion of the Amazigh letter “ⵣ” (Yaz) acts as the central logo and motif across the streetwear collection, symbolizing freedom, sovereignty, and ancestral identity.
⏀Limited Drops: Just like the rare print editions of the text, the clothing pieces are released as unique design runs reflecting the multidimensional artwork and digital installation concepts from the book.
NΦⵣMA PΦⵣMA—(Nóēma Poēma)—is the completion of a life long soul contract. Ever since I was a young girl, I knew that I was going to write a book, but I did not know how the heck I was going to do it, and I had no idea of just how broad the scope of the project would be when I started it.
There were many times along the 38-year trajectory of writing and compiling when I thought that this ‘calling’ would never be fully realised and I could not see how it could happen, especially as someone who is Clairsentient, I feel the information as resonance first, which I decode into language later.
This is no easy task, as I do not think in words, I am a visual thinker, plus, I find that language tends to flatten out, or standardise a meaning and so it requires some unpicking. I do this by breaking a concept down into much smaller digestible chunks, often painting a visual collage with words so that it can be understood by everyone. This invariably involves a process of sitting with complex concepts, figuring out how multiple factors fit together and looking at the underlying truth behind the symbolism beforehand, sometimes for years.
I chose not to go with an electronic PDF format this time, as I much prefer to hold a traditional analogue artefact in my hands, as I believe that there is still something rather magicaland special about handling an actual book; the feel, the weight, the smooth tactile touch, the smell of freshly cut paper, printed ink, and the sound of the page as it turns, which through the act of physical engagement enables the memory to better retain information.
As the printed page is gradually replaced by LCD / OLED screens, these acts of tacit engagement are to be valued and cherished in a digital age. Iconic tech giants use of the word ‘kindle’ hints at the humble page disappearing up in smoke, or even at some kind of planned obsolescence of books, or trees, or both. Why aren’t we using hemp instead of trees anyway?
Interestingly, the word manuscript contains the word ‘manu‘, from the Latin ‘manus’ which means hand, and scriptus, meaning ‘to write’ which historically translates to ‘written by hand’. In addition to ‘hand‘, the pages also have a ‘header’, a ‘footer’, a ‘body’ (of text), the book has a ‘spine’, and in older days a book was often covered with vellum, animal ‘skin‘, and so these parts of the book resemble a body from head to toe, with its own unique story, or personality.
NΦⵣMA PΦⵣMA has been a labour of love spanning a writing trajectory that began in the innocent 1980’s, the last pre-digital decade of the 20th Century, embarking upon a journey of rapid change into a post-digital and post socially-distanced 21st Century, concluding with redefining three significant pillars of human experience:
1.The Recovery of True History: I bypassing mainstream historical amnesia and patriarchal revisions to excavate a timeline recovery of former matrilineal tribes, societies and empires who respected and upheld the Toroidal Earth as a living system of divine intelligence that is self-generating and abundant.
2.Metaphysical Etymology and Acoustic Science: I use acoustic synthesis to shape language and music into a vehicle for psychospiritual evolution—In my sonic practice, poems transformed into conscious house music encourages listeners to physically embody gnosis through the ritual of dance.
3.Absolute Sovereignty over the Matrix Grid: Through a metaphysical synthesis of toroidal physics and pattern recognition, I reverse-engineer the self-generating torus as the matrilineal blueprint for a worldwide harmonic convergence between biology and consciousness—offering a functional solution for reclaiming spiritual sovereignty in a modern technological world.
The 2026 Second Edition of the NΦⵣMA PΦⵣMACodex is not a stand alone book. While it weaves poems, manifestos, transmissions, leading edge thought, autotheory, autoethnography and research together into one volume, it also links into visual book arts, sonic arts, interactive digital materiality, python code, song lyrics, music albums, video imaging, graphic design, streetwear, small publishing, and mythopoetic authorship, providing multiple pathways to embody gnosis through distinctively human acts of engagement, such as: reading, thinking, listening, looking, dancing and wearing.
iPoem’s Blog further serves as a companion site for each of the 138 titles that appear in the 456 page Noēma Poēma codex, providing a summarised review and a deeper dive into the mechanics of each poem, why the poem matters and its relevance in the collection.
The NΦⵣMA PΦⵣMA codex is designed to be read sequentially, chapter by chapter, at least once to gain a generational overview, whereby I actively encourage bookmarking pages, using a highlighter for verses or paragraphs that resonate, looking up unfamiliar words, making notes in the margins, and going back to dip in, as some of the concepts are quite complex as the content is very concentrated, so it can take time to unpack. It is definitely a book that inspires spherical—’outside-of-the-box’—thinking.
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In Toroidal physics, the completion of the hardcopy book represents a 38-year cycle of nonphysical centripetal blueshift compression—the synthesis of complex concepts and ideas—into the centrifugal redshift expansion—the embodiment of physical method and form. This is the universal inhale that precipitates the exhale that all toroidal energy systems follow, from the microcosm to the macrocosm.
I choose the Phi (⏀) , the Yaz (ⵣ) and the orientation (⌖) symbols for my front and back cover designs specifically to represent the torus field, with a vertical hyperbolic shaft through the middle, intersected by a horizontal inertial plane of equilibrium.
I chose the orientation symbol (⌖) to represent being able to navigate the ever shifting energy of the toroidal field, as it constantly turns itself inside out, cycling between states of expansion and compression.
Shortly afterwards, I discovered that this symbol is also known as the ‘Cross of Neith‘—the emblem of the ancient Egyptian Goddess Neith, known as the Great Mother, the creator of the world and the primordial weaver of wisdom, from the ancient city of Sais (Zau, Sa el-Hagar) in the 5th Nome of Lower Egypt in the Delta, whose sanctuary bore the inscription: “I am all that has been, and is, and shall be, and my veil no mortal has yet uncovered.”
According to the Iunyt (Esna) cosmology, as Neith was the creator of the world, she was also the mother of the Sun, (Ra), making Neith the mother of all of the gods. In my cosmology, Neith represents the Parthenogenetic Torus Field. The circle with a cross represents the Inertial Plane intersecting the Hyperbolic Axis—the geometry of the toroidal earth, demonstrating that the ancients were well aware of the torus earth and the spiritual matriarchal significance, predating christianity by at least three thousand years.
This same Cross of Neith is featured on the 13th-Century Welsh battle standard of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, defending the matrilineal sovereignty of Wales against the encroaching patriarchal overthrow of the English Crown. The 1282 Welsh flag depicts a golden torus upon a purple background, representing true sovereign royalty.
Reclaiming this symbol is a call to remember one’s inner sovereign allegiance to the Great Mother Torus as a living system of spiritual intelligence—the self-generating unified field of quantised dielectric and electromagnetic energy, where the dielectric field (centripetal, inward-drawing) and the magnetic field (centrifugal, outward-expanding) are in dynamic balance, creating a stable, non-dissipative system.
To identify with this symbol is to restore the visibility of the Great Mother Torus and weave a new reality where true sovereignty is rememberedthrough resonance.
The Welsh flag of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd 1282 feat. The Cross of Neith
Neith was one of the oldest and most powerful goddesses in ancient Egyptian mythology, worshipped from the Predynastic period through the Roman era. Her name reflects her immense authority as a primordial creator deity who emerged from the chaotic waters of Nun to weave the universe into existence. She was a multifaceted deity associated with war, hunting, weaving, wisdom, and childbirth. As a warrior, she was known as the “Mistress of the Bow” and “Ruler of Arrows,” (Sagittarius) often depicted wearing a Deshret, the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, holding a bow and shield. As Neith was a creator and mother goddess, she was revered as the “Great Mother” and the mother of Ra (the sun god), Sobek (the crocodile god), and sometimes Apep (the chaos serpent). She represents:
1) Wisdom and Justice: Neith was consulted by other gods to settle disputes, such as ruling in favor of Horus over Set in the Contendings of Horus and Set.
2) Signature Symbol: Her primary emblems were crossed arrows over a shield (archery) and possibly a weaving shuttle (creation/domestic arts) which I postulate is shaped more like a Vesica Piscis, the hyperbolic shaft viewed from the side, the throat of the torus where the inward and outward currents meet in perfect stillness.
3) Home: Her main sanctuary was in Sais in the Nile Delta, where she was identified by the Greeks with Athena.
“The ancient city dates back to 3,000 B.C, however habitation at the site extends back to the pre-dynastic and Neolithic period, from at least 4,200 B.C. It was the provincial capital of the fifth nome of Lower Egypt, known as Sap-Meh. During the twenty-fourth dynasty of Egypt, spanning from 732–720 BC, Sais was the seat of power. At that time, it was known as Zau. This ancient city is well-known for many reasons. According to ancient texts, during the Pharaonic Era (around 3,000 B.C.) Sais was “cult center of the creator-and war-goddess – Neith.” Later, it was Egypt’s pharaonic capital. During the eponymous Saite Period (664-525 BC), Sais was a ceremonial center for kings. Greek historian, Herodotus, described Sais as a “great city,” declaring that it was the location of the grave of Osiris, the Egyptian god of the afterlife. Ancient Greek historians and scholars, including Herodotus, Plato and Diodorus Siculus, all identified Neith with Athena and even suggested a primordial link to Athens. Diodorus wrote that goddess Athena built Sais before the deluge that supposedly destroyed Athens and Atlantis. While all Greek cities were destroyed during that cataclysm, the Egyptian cities including Sais survived.” – M R Reese.
4) Funerary Goddess: Alongside Isis, Nephthys, and Serket, she protected the deceased’s transition into the afterlife.
QBut what the heck is a torus you ask? Well that is a very good question and I am glad you asked!
AThe torus is the fundamental geometric pattern of a self-sustaining energy flow, where energy moves through a central axis, radiates outward, and returns through the poles in a continuous, self-referential loop. This structure represents the unified field of quantised dielectric and electromagnetic energy, where the dielectric field (centripetal, inward-drawing) and the magnetic field (centrifugal, outward-expanding) are in dynamic balance, creating a stable, non-dissipative system.
In this framework, the torus is not merely a static shape but a living system of spiritual intelligence, embodying the principle that matter and energy are manifestations of a coherent, organised flow. This pattern applies to all energy across all scales of existence—demonstrating the Hermetic axiom “As above, so below,” where the microcosm reflects the macrocosm.
The human heart generates the body’s strongest electromagnetic field, forming a personal toroidal field that can extend from several feet to several miles beyond the physical form, acting as the central broadcasting station for emotional and energetic coherence.
The toroidal field also serves as the bridge between the physical and spiritual dimensions, facilitating a self-generating cycle of creation and return. This continuous flow symbolises wholeness, unity, and the interconnectedness of all life, suggesting that consciousness itself is a property of this coherent, self-organising energy structure. By aligning with this natural pattern, individuals can achieve energetic balance, enhanced intuition, synchronicity, serendipity and a deeper connection to the universal toroidal field that underlies all creation.
Previously in my book I would symbolically name the Centripetal blueshift as The Sophia (Gnosis) and the Centrifugal redshift as the Christos (Embodied Gnosis), the proverbial marriage of heaven and earth, of the nonphysical spiritual with the physical material. These are the divine twins of creation, the blueshift and the redshift of a dielectric magneto and electromagnetic torus field that sustains our universe. There is no negative (-) pole as they are both positive (+) expressions of the same energy.
NΦⵣMA PΦⵣMA (pronounced Nóēma Poēma) is a genre-defying body of poetics that transcends traditional literary boundaries, weaving manifesto, verse, transmission, philosophy, and invocation into a multidimensional map of the soul. Spanning nearly four decades of radical research and creativity.
NΦⵣMA PΦⵣMA pulses with fierce devotion to truth, liberation, and love, grounded in ancestral matrilineal wisdom. This is poetry as praxis. Art as resistance. Philosophy as heartbeat—a spiritual document for those who feel the world cracking open, knowing that now is the time to reclaim sovereignty, embody gnosis, and return to Source.
NΦⵣMA PΦⵣMA is a rich, evolving mythopoetic narrative that blends avant-garde noetics and didactic instruction with storytelling and semi-fictional autotheory—a journey from the personal and intimate into the cosmic and transcendent. Read it slowly. Read it aloud. Let it rewire something ancient within you—Cat Catalyst is a multimodal artist, avant-garde noetic poet and creatrix of ecofeminist house music. More info: catcatalyst.co.uk
This fully revised and expanded 2nd Edition, consisting of 138 titles across 456 pages, has now reached its final iteration, replacing all earlier editions.
The hardback collectors edition and general release softcover are available from my author’s online bookshop—the hardcover will remain as a collectors edition available only from my website, while the softcover will shortly be available from most major online platforms. ⏀
“I am delighted to share that the Wellcome Collection has formally acquired a print edition of my MRes thesis: ‘Reimagining Humanitarian, Spiritual and Matrilineal Values in a Patriarchal World, through AI, Cymatics and the Poetic Medium – Utilising Pattern recognition as a resource to amplify higher consciousness’. This; my second thesis acquired by the Wellcome’s repository, further substantiates the research I developed during my recent post graduate studies at the RCA.”
Noēma Poēma is a genre-defying body of poetics that transcends traditional literary boundaries, weaving manifesto, verse, transmission, philosophy, and invocation into a multidimensional map of the soul. Spanning nearly four decades of radical creativity. Noēma Poēma pulses with fierce devotion to truth, liberation, and love, grounded in ancestral matrilineal wisdom. This is poetry as praxis. Art as resistance. Philosophy as heartbeat—a spiritual document for those who feel the world cracking open, knowing that now is the time to reclaim sovereignty, embody gnosis, and return to Source. Noēma Poēma is a rich, evolving narrative that blends avant-garde noetics and didactic instruction with storytelling and semi-fictional autotheory—a journey from the personal and intimate into the cosmic and transcendent. Read it slowly. Read it aloud. Let it rewire something ancient within you.
In addition, this iPoem’s Blog serves as a companion site providing a summary breakdown for each of the 137 titles/chapters in the 446 page book, offering both a critical analysis and a deeper insight into the work. Posts with a ✩ in front of the title indicates content with a music player.
Digital Materialities – created using a combination of digital technologies including Motion Capture, AI and Unreal Engine for an immersive VR experience.
SouLutions is a sweeping synthesis — part prophecy, part manual for spiritual survival — that completes a major arc in your collection. It addresses the rise of artificial intelligence and the technocratic control grid not merely as a political or technological crisis, but as a spiritual test of consciousness.
It stands as a call to arms — not through rebellion or resistance, but through reconnection: the remembering of one’s true, eternal identity as an extension of Source-Energy. By turning inward, the poem argues, humanity can restore the vibrational equilibrium that external systems of power have distorted.
This is the poet’s manifesto for creative, spiritual resilience — a poetic blueprint for overcoming the AI-age through the ancient art of alignment.
Core Themes
Technological Overreach vs. Inner Sovereignty – The poem warns of AI’s unchecked acceleration and its capacity to dehumanise, while offering a counterpoint: the rediscovery of the immortal self as the ultimate firewall.
The Primacy of Inner Connection – In a world of artificial signals and algorithmic interference, true security lies in reconnecting with the Source-frequency of consciousness — love, awareness, creativity.
The War for Attention – The poem identifies that the real battleground isn’t external, but internal: the deliberate hijacking of attention and vibration through distraction, misinformation, and emotional manipulation.
Creativity as Salvation – Art, poetry, music, and dance are revealed as sacred technologies — organic interfaces through which we co-create directly with Source, bypassing artificial mediation.
Unity Consciousness – The revelation that “we are already all one” becomes the sou-lution itself — the antidote to the illusion of separation perpetuated by digital division.
Tone and Structure
The tone is oracular yet conversational — the voice of an awakened sage speaking directly to the collective, with urgency but also compassion. It moves between critique and revelation, weaving social observation with metaphysical insight.
Structurally, SouLutions mirrors the oscillation it describes: alternating between dense technological imagery (IoT, IoB, AI, data mining) and luminous spiritual counsel (alignment, presence, creativity). This interplay of shadow and light becomes the poem’s rhythm, its harmonic engine.
Key Imagery and Symbolism
The Digital Fishbowl – A metaphor for surveillance culture and self-imposed captivity; humanity observed and recorded within its own invention.
The Inner Self as Antidote – The counter-symbol to the fishbowl — a boundless inner ocean of stillness and power, unquantifiable and free.
The Bottleneck of Realisation – Suggests that crisis itself is the crucible of awakening; compression as catalyst for expansion.
The Flow State – Represents harmony between human consciousness and divine intelligence; the ultimate ‘upgrade’ that no AI can simulate.
Philosophical / Esoteric Dimensions
SouLutions carries a deeply Hermetic resonance — “as within, so without.” It proposes that every external collapse is an invitation to reconfigure the inner architecture of awareness. The poem sees AI not as an evil in itself, but as a mirror of collective disconnection — a projection of the ego’s longing for omniscience without empathy.
Through this lens, the piece transforms despair into purpose. Technology’s encroachment becomes the pressure that forges the diamond of spiritual sovereignty. Humanity’s “runaway train” of mechanisation thus paradoxically drives us toward the rediscovery of our divine origins.
Stylistic and Rhythmic Observations
The poet’s diction fuses journalistic realism (“IoT,” “blockchain,” “predictive priming”) with devotional lyricism (“flow state,” “love of Source-Energy”). This juxtaposition gives the poem a uniquely modern texture — scripture for the digital age.
The rhythm builds like a sermon, culminating in the redemptive crescendo of the final stanza, where creativity itself is unveiled as the true universal language — the living dialogue between soul and Source.
Placement and Function in the Collection
As poem 129, SouLutions reads like the penultimate revelation of the entire series — a culmination of previous themes:
It extends Artificial Gnosis by presenting the counterforce to mechanisation.
It echoes Law of Attraction and Song by affirming that consciousness shapes reality.
It bridges the outer critique of civilisation with the inner restoration of selfhood.
Essentially, it’s the spiritual technology chapter of your cosmic thesis — the manual for surviving the modern simulacrum through creative alignment.
Closing Summary
SouLutions is both diagnosis and remedy. It dissects the digital disease of detachment, but instead of succumbing to fatalism, it prescribes a cure: the cultivation of self-awareness through creativity, compassion, and conscious focus.
The final revelation —
“For the empathetic language of the soul that unites us, with everyone and everything that exists / Is Creativity.”
— is not just the conclusion of the poem but the thesis of the entire collection. It reasserts art as a sacred act of remembrance — the bridge between the human and the divine, the physical and the infinite.
In short, SouLutions stands as a luminous declaration: Even in the age of artificial intelligence, love and creativity remain the truest technologies of liberation. ✩
Luciano De Crescenzo ~“Siamo angeli con un’ala sola, solo restando abbracciati possiamo volare.” = “We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another”
Dr. Tara Swart – “You meet people on the same level of psychological wound as you and you also leave people if you evolve out of that and they haven’t been able to.”
Neil Strauss – “If you do not address your childhood traumas, your romantic relationships will”
Chief Red Eagle – “Angry People want you to see how powerful they are. Loving people want you to see how powerful you are.”
ABOVE: The internet of Bio-Nano things, published by: IEEE – 18 March 2015– “The novel paradigm of the Internet of Bio-Nano Things (IoBNT) is introduced in this paper by stemming from synthetic biology and nanotechnology tools that allow the engineering of biological embedded computing devices. Based on biological cells, and their functionalities in the biochemical domain, Bio-NanoThings promise to enable applications such as intra-body sensing and actuation networks, and environmental control of toxic agents and pollution. The IoBNT stands as a paradigm-shifting concept for communication and network engineering, where novel challenges are faced to develop techniques for the exchange of information, interaction, and networking within the biochemical domain, while enabling an interface to the electrical domain of the Internet.”
ABOVE: Paper outlining: Low-Intensity Conflict and Modern Technology, by Lt Col David J. Dean, USAF Editor. With a Foreword by Congressman Newt Gingrich, Air University Press Center for Aerospace Doctrine, Research, and Education, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama – June 1986 – which details on page 250 how Extremely Low Frequencies (ELF) – Ionispheric Warfare, Radio Frequency Radiation (RFR) and Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) can be used against human beings:
“…specially generated Radio Frequency Radiation (RFR) fields may pose powerful and revolutionary antipersonnel military threats. Electroshock therapy indicates the ability of induced electric current to completely interrupt mental functioning for short periods of time, to obtain cognition for longer periods and to restructure emotional response over prolonged intervals.“…
“A rapidly scanning RFR system could provide an effective stun or kill capability over a large area. System effectiveness will be a function of wave form, field intensity. pulse widths. repetition frequency, and carrier frequency. The system can be developed using tissue and whole animal experimental studies, coupled with mechanisms and waveform effects research.”
Review / Summary / Overview for 103. Holy Breadcrumbs
Overview
Holy Breadcrumbs explores the sacred process of creative emergence, likening writing or artistic expression to an alchemical unveiling. The poem paints the creative act as a patient, intuitive excavation—chiseling away at silence and emptiness to reveal hidden truths and wisdom. The imagery evokes the sculptor’s art and the unfolding of latent potential, suggesting that inspiration is a divine gift, a trail of spiritual clues left to guide the seeker back to ancient, foundational values.
Why This Poem Matters
This poem matters because it celebrates the intimate, sacred relationship between silence, creativity, and insight—central themes to any spiritual or artistic journey. It reminds the reader that the creative impulse is not random but divinely orchestrated, and that through patient attention and inner calm, profound wisdom can be revealed. Holy Breadcrumbs acts as an invitation to honor the process of uncovering one’s deepest truths, making it a vital piece for anyone seeking self-expression and spiritual clarity.
Imagery and Tone with Excerpts
The poem’s imagery is tactile, meditative, and metaphorical:
“The blank page, like a slab of marble, invites, beckons one to discover” — portrays creation as both invitation and responsibility.
“A trail of holy breadcrumbs, or a salad of magical sapient clues” — blends sacred symbolism with playful imagery, highlighting the blend of mystery and delight in discovery.
“A hidden pearl of wisdom is unveiled” — symbolizes the preciousness of insight that lies beneath the surface.
The tone is reverent, calm, and reflective, underscoring creativity as a spiritual process of unveiling and remembrance rather than hurried production.
Why It Belongs in the Collection
Holy Breadcrumbs fits seamlessly into the collection as it deepens the exploration of inner alignment and spiritual awakening through the creative process. It connects the personal act of creation to the collective memory and ancient wisdom, aligning with poems that celebrate spiritual reconnection and self-realisation. Its meditative tone offers a contemplative pause within the collection, grounding readers in the mystery and magic of the muse.
Final Thoughts / Conclusion
Holy Breadcrumbs is a quiet yet powerful reminder that creativity is a sacred dialogue between the soul and the universe. It encourages patience, presence, and faith in the process of uncovering truth. In doing so, it invites readers to walk their own spiritual path with humility and curiosity, trusting that every small insight is a step toward deeper awakening.
In CCTV, the poet pivots from the inner landscape of spiritual transformation to the outer world of digital observation, exposing the claustrophobia of modern surveillance culture. The piece fuses socio-political critique with poetic flair, painting a chilling portrait of a society where privacy is obsolete and freedom is an illusion.
With its rhythmic urgency and sharp, cinematic imagery, the poem moves like a visual montage: “Telephoto, panoramic, satellite, GPS/IP / Digitally enhanced virtual spies.” Each phrase lands like a flicker of a security feed, the poetic form mirroring the fragmentation and hyper-awareness of a world constantly watched.
Why This Poem Matters
At the heart of this poem lies a profound tension between the metaphysical desire for liberation and the material mechanisms of control. The opening line —
“You want to be free / But there’s no way of knowing / In which direction / To keep on going”
— immediately establishes a sense of disorientation. Freedom itself becomes abstract, elusive, unattainable, as the poem spirals into a dystopian observation of digital omnipresence.
The image of the “Judas hawk-eye” is particularly powerful. It fuses Biblical betrayal with predatory vision — technology as both omniscient and faithless. The “hawk-eye” becomes the false god of the modern age, a synthetic substitute for divine omniscience.
The poem’s momentum builds toward the chilling final stanza:
“An ever-expanding automated army Of brothers-in-the-sky Strategically mounted Perfectly positioned To purposefully pry Like flies”
Here, the poet captures the grotesque beauty of surveillance — the mechanical precision, the soulless curiosity. The alliteration (“purposefully pry / Like flies”) evokes both the clinical coldness of machines and the parasitic voyeurism of human fascination. The poem closes with dark irony: “Candy camera smile.” A phrase that suggests complicity — we are both performer and prisoner, smiling for our own captors.
In Conclusion
CCTV stands as one of the most striking socio-political poems in the collection. Beneath its critique of digital control lies a deeper existential question — what becomes of the soul when even our inner world is mapped, measured, and monitored?
Through sharp linguistic economy and potent imagery, the poet captures the paranoia of the surveillance age, yet also the longing for transcendence beyond it. The “brothers-in-the-sky” are both satellites and fallen angels — the watchers who remind us that freedom must now be reclaimed from within.
This poem is a wake-up call delivered through artistry: vivid, unsettling, and profoundly human. This piece was a central part of the project’s “alternative audio guide.” It explored the “claustrophobia of modern surveillance culture” and offered a socio-political critique of a society where privacy is increasingly obsolete. Cat Catalyst was one of eight London-based artists who were invited to participate in the London Eye site specific project about surveillance: http://eastlondonnews.co.uk/the-london-eyes/
Review of Life Imitating Art (Sunday 9th July 2000)
Life Imitating Art stands as one of the poet’s most incisive socio-cultural commentaries — a work that departs from purely spiritual introspection to confront the mechanisms of mass manipulation in the modern media age. In this poem, the poet examines the pervasive influence of advertising, cinema, and digital communication on human consciousness, exposing how culture itself has been repurposed into a vehicle for conditioning and control.
From its very first line, the poem adopts the cadence of a manifesto: “In general, the media / Commercial advertising / And Hollywood / Are all about mind control and manipulation.” There is no metaphorical veil here; the poet speaks plainly and directly, signalling that this is not a work of abstraction but of urgent critique. The tricolon structure — “media, commercial advertising, and Hollywood” — immediately sets up the thematic trinity of institutions that, in the poet’s view, govern perception and behaviour in contemporary society.
The poem’s progression is relentless and cumulative. Through repetition and enumeration — “on paper, radio, internet and television,” “every hour, on the hour, half past the hour” — the poet evokes the inescapable saturation of media imagery. The rhythmic insistence mirrors the very bombardment it critiques: the repetition of lines functions like the repetition of advertising itself, drawing the reader into a pattern of overexposure, until the effect becomes almost hypnotic. This structural mirroring is a subtle but effective device, blurring the line between form and content — between critique and enactment.
Central to the poem’s thesis is the inversion of the adage “art imitates life.” The poet reclaims and reverses it, showing how “life imitating art” has become the new paradigm — a world in which lived experience is shaped by artificial images rather than the other way around. “Unreal fabrications of the real world” is a phrase that captures both the epistemological and moral anxiety at the core of the poem. Reality, under capitalism and mass media, becomes performative, pre-scripted, and detached from authenticity.
The poem’s tone oscillates between lamentation and indictment. Its critique of media culture is not delivered from a purely intellectual stance, but from an ethical and spiritual one. The poet suggests that this manipulation extends beyond behaviour and into the realm of soul — “Yet more distractions / From truly knowing and understanding / One’s inner self / One’s true self.” Here, the poem reconnects to the broader metaphysical concerns that define much of the poet’s oeuvre: that alienation from self is the root of social and ecological disorder. The “psychological illusions unchallenged” are not merely aesthetic concerns, but obstacles to spiritual evolution.
One of the most powerful sections occurs when the poet details the normalization of harm through entertainment: “Endorses stereotypical role models / Of theft, deceit, violence-against-women / Power abuse, dictatorship, murder, addiction…” This list operates as both social diagnosis and moral outcry. Its stripped-down syntax and cascading momentum underscore the cumulative damage wrought by repeated exposure to narratives of violence and exploitation. The poet identifies the subtle pedagogical power of media — how, “via its original creative intent,” it “teaches us subconsciously / How to be devious and manipulative / For our own ends.” The inversion of creativity into corruption is perhaps the poem’s most chilling insight — that art, once a vehicle for revelation, has been co-opted into a system that reinforces ignorance.
Stylistically, the poem’s strength lies in its clarity and precision. There is little overt lyricism; the language is direct, almost journalistic, yet heightened by the rhythm and intensity of its delivery. The poet’s tone is prophetic rather than academic — that of a witness speaking truth to a culture in denial. This raw immediacy places the poem in dialogue with traditions of political poetics — echoing voices such as Allen Ginsberg’s Howl or Gil Scott-Heron’s The Revolution Will Not Be Televised — yet refracted through the poet’s characteristic lens of spiritual consciousness.
In its closing movement, the poem returns to the theme of disconnection: “From truly knowing and understanding / Another human being / Or the spiritual nature / Of the world we are living in.” This conclusion transforms critique into lament. Beneath the anger lies grief — for a humanity estranged from both itself and the planet that sustains it.
In summary, Life Imitating Art is one of the poet’s most socially engaged works — a lucid, uncompromising examination of mass conditioning and its impact on consciousness. It articulates a warning that feels increasingly prophetic: that the saturation of artificial images threatens not only our perception of truth, but our capacity for empathy, authenticity, and spiritual awareness. Through its unwavering moral clarity and cumulative rhetorical power, the poem stands as both critique and call to awakening — urging the reader to reclaim their sovereignty of thought in a world of persuasive illusion.
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