![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4e44ba6b1ab99f27e240e2357c4c13df6484542b3a15a02edd98867185e039ef/richard-01.jpg)
Image: anthology cover.
On Alberto Balsam
Poem published in Broken Sleep’s 2022 anthology on Aphex Twin / Richard D. James / AFX / Polygon Window, You’ve got so many machines, Richard! I wanted to use words to make a droplet of the nostalgia-unspooling mood of Aphex’s song Alberto Balsam. I composed this poem largely from fragments of YouTube comments – reassembling feelings and thoughts shared by strangers into a flow that fits my own sense of the song.
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/532643477b067b66465b002f164984d9aa59ca95155352c66a6bf70fc7454421/richard-on-alberto-balsam-02.jpg)