Here's the poem written by our Poet In Residence, Bee Golding, during Saturday night's performance of The New "Normal" by Beyond The Ridiculous.

Bee captured the atmosphere of our first ever hybrid online / real-life improvised show in this specially commissioned poem. She made a video of herself reading the poem for anyone who would prefer to hear it - scroll down to find the video.

The New Normal
by Bee Golding

What flavour are fools?
Lick their faces and see
We used to do that

It might not be what you want to see
But it might
Be
What
You
Need
To
Be

It wasn’t what I was expecting
A phone call
Not much social
At all

Connotations and meanings
Wrap me in your wires
Do me on your computer
I have dry eyes

I have a thing
About the things
I see in my eyes
The vision in my eyes
Is compromised
My eyes are
Hopes springing eternal

My spinning dreaming bubble
Future shining brightly
Into the New Normal

Super-8 scenes
Cinematic thoughts
Orchestral movements
Rousing chorus
Of sunshine umbrellas
Geisha lady
Walks out the door

Oh your eyes

Sparkly
In neutral glitter
Blending not blending
Human glitter ball

We all dance
In our masks
In the dark
Without drugs
Just high on life
Jogging endorphins
We cannot cross the line!

Ah! Here comes the breath
We did not find our purpose
No one here
Giddy with joy
Is that what it takes?

How to not feel so bad
So mad
So sad
What do you do?

Guilty pleasures
For old souls
Singing casually
I will always love you

Toss the chandelier
A bit in-between
Am I on a chair?
Am I on a wall?
I’m on screens in the world
I’m not really there
I’m here
With this wardrobe
And this wall
Emptiness
Here and there
Wibble wobble
Teeter totter

It’s not so much
Tiny steps of
Political dogma
From here to there
A tiny philosophical shift
Dip your fingers
In the new water

Safe in my known thing
Leap madly onto the bed of new
Safe with the crap plastic hangers
There is another way
It’s great on the bouncy bed

It’s just a wardrobe
Wobble on the precipice
Wibble wobble fools
Balance on one foot
Shifting weight, shifting sands
Dancing hands

We are manifest
Fierce foot stomping
Poetry

Being alive
Is that of value?

Miss you
Bright light sail
Shadow dance
Swim through your room

You are them
We are watching you
I know the truth

Winter is coming
Wouldn’t it be nice
To get in some walls
That we can lean on

Take us outside
To the grass
And the car alarm
Apples in the grass
Toes on turf

Light shadow face
Walking us
Through walls
Into your space

Slow progress is power
Finishing is years away
Stretch your arms high
Curled in a ball

Go on
Cross the line
Its all gonna be fine
Because we know how to be kind

Anyone got too much love?

Why would you not
Just keep
Planting seeds of kindness?
Make the whole world kind!

For more of Bee's poems, click here.

If you'd like to see photographs from the night, click here.