Please welcome Clay, the moulder

Clay is from an everything-is-a-shape planet, except pet Squiggles

Dear friend from structured lands, 
I know you don't know what rules are
but don't we all just hate them anyway?

Butttt, they will help you on your first day here 
so please hold this donut 
let it be shared by three faces, 
it's probably too much for any one 

Slurp down that soup... not so quick!
Do you feel burns like I do?
Mm. Best to be cautious with the new - 
Let your smiles take one step at a time 
so they don't fade too quickly 

I'm not a throw-you-in-the-deep-end kind of girl 
BUT HAVE YOU SEEN THE OCEAN? 
It comes free with it's own little aliens - welcome intrusions to land, 
we make lore of them: sentient octopi, sleepy seals stacked 
into a snuggle pile, coral manes with the lion's share 
of keeping us alive, lost fish we make movies about 

Oh right, you don't know what a movie is - 
well you see your cute pet Squiggles? 
imagine a hundred of him, 
stuck in time 
and then activated to be in motion - 
I don't know what time looks like for you, 
but what I do is we all need more of forever. 

do you hear sound in shapes too? 
what do sounds sound like for you? i know the world is all math, 
but it doesn't always come at right angles 
we fight a lot here. over which line belongs to whom, 
and i want to say it doesn't matter but it does. 
belonging needs a space to live, you know?
Hm. Let me have a side-bar with my conscience real quick, 
before telling you the rules, the whole rules & nothing but the rules

truth doesn't mean the whole truth. 
our world is bent all over and 
we know it's breaking 
so maybe we twist a bit too? 

Ok, I'm back. I want to tell you so many things, but maybe this is one of those "less is more" situations. I wouldn't know, I've never been in one of those before. 

Anyhooo, here's 5 for you: 

1) protect everyone like they're your pet, 

2) colour outside the lines often, 

3) eat round foods - they're all good for you, yes the potatoes too 
(we'll do lessons on moderation another time)

4) lies are useless and

5) when you feel alone, which you will don't hide it hold my hand, 
it's not round, but I'll shape-shift it into what you need it to be. 

Poem written during Jess Janz: Alien! workshop, as part of Unfold 2024 by the best human:

Tristan Richards

. Animated this weirdo with the Animated Drawings Demo.