Quantum Sheep

Valerie Laws gained international press coverage for her Quantum Sheep project, in which she spray painted poetry onto live sheep, in order to reflect the principles of quantum physics - and create random haikus.

The project provided the title of her new collection, Quantum Sheep, published by Peterloo Poets in Autumn 2006.

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Out There

"Promise me I'll never have to go
out there again," says Carrie Fisher
to her new-found, late-found fiancé
in When Harry met Sally. Meaning
the whole dating thing. Well, I'm
out there, again. Out there
without a prompter, or a net,
or any other metaphorical support.

What I do have is my dating self.
Unfortunately, she's been in a coma
for twenty-five years. Painfully prodded
awake, like Austin Powers, she's stuck
in the seventies. Hankering for Marc Bolan,
pretty, non-threatening boys. Wishing
she was Bowie-bisexual, divinely decadent.
Flinching from her reflection, distorted
in the faces of middle-aged men.

Unable to cope with a quarter century lost,
she longs to snog again, on sofas or in doorways,
her arms inside his coat; his patchouli blending
with her Aqua Manda, opening her eyes
to his mascara'd eyes, perverse like Cabaret,
innocent like Bambi, reflecting the face
she still wears inside her head.

The photographs show Valerie Laws reading her poem Out There at the launch of her Quantum Sheep collection.

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Order Quantum Sheep from the publisher, Peterloo Poets (and read another poem on their web site).

Order Quantum Sheep from your local bookshop, quoting the ISBN: 978-1-904324-35-5
or order online (price £7.95 per copy, postage free) from Peterloo Poets or by post from:

Peterloo Poets,
The Old Chapel
Sand Lane
Calstock
Cornwall
PL18 9QX