- Strap of heel / toe /esquire / apron /marble top bench / Rose waits / you burnish and stretch leather for one dollar-fifty ...
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Northland Lake / 2006 / the basement of our building is a closed shoe repair shop
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Poem for Attrition/ I work the Temp. agencies/ I am sweet sixteen
- I SIT IN CHURCH DURING MY LUNCH breaks/my head is in my hands. I dream of a husband/I AM sixteen and afraid of being alone in later life. I GO to Tucson and meet Steve. I WAIT FOUR YEARS for him to call. We have six babies /constant as the sun/ I keep them safe in a small room. NOW they are afraid and sit in church with their heads down / i HOLD THEM TIGHT / they cry about injustice / they want toy/ Igive them sticks and cloth / send them to wor k in the restaurants / STEVE DRIVES THEM AROUND IN OLD CARS/this love story goes on and on into the fifth dimention / I WANT TO BE IMMERSED IN WATER and buy a babypool for the backyard/ WE UP AND LEAVE iNDIANA AND RUN THE HILLS OF little Itay/N.Y.we polish the floor and sleep on a mat/ I WAIT FOR you on the stairs /money falling out of your pockets / The paintings snug on a rolling cart / You are happy with our new life / but we have falklen asleep one too many times on our feet / Our eyes have saeen enough / The whole cityknows you as the man who can't be stopped/we quit our jobs and move to the Bronx / now we dream about death / nO ONE CAN WAKE US / WE ARE frozen in the apartment /our necks snapped.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
YEAR OF the Monkey / inspired by living on Mulberry street for seven years
the shoeman is bored / his eyes rivet /his face remains constant / the beginning of spring /an ancient chant / we will become the Chinese dancers /we will steal the yellow lantern and the red dragon / we will take the ginseng and chew it for power/
Friday, May 15, 2009
2002 / the library /Granville /N.Y. /STUDYING THE wHO'S wHO BOOK FOR LEADS
- think / man / take your self / out / of the mix / do you ache
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
entering a place which cannot be found again
- WE LAY ON THE BED LOOKING OUT the window /children are carrying buckets and fishing poles. DOVES ARE FLYING in and out of the eaves. It is dawn and we are full of energy.
My only daughter says minimize,mom
- I SAT BY THE KITCHEN SINK FOR MANY YEARS WITH A BABY IN MY ARMS. looking out the window I COULD SEE A WORLD WHICH had very little to do with me. WHEN THE time came I RAN. My running shoes carried me to the ends of the world. I ENTER A
N ABANDONED building and crank up the sounds. IT IS FILLED with books and memorabilia.I LAY DOWN ON THE FLOOR AND TAKE A LONG WINTER'S NAP. While I'M sleeping a knock comes at the back door,it is my daughter, ''Where the hell are you,don't you know that dad needs you.''
Monday, May 11, 2009
Okema Trailer Park /April /'04
- Sue visited me at the Pomodora Place in Tampa Hills / and it is real empty / bunches of houses real close together and no place to plant corn /The traler is still good for us . I SURE WISH pAUL WOULD GET HAPPY AGAIN /YOU KNOW i HAD SOME IDEAS WHEN He was young and in the service /you know Winnie and PAUL HAD SOME PROBLEMS before she got sick....Call your daughter and see if you can get her to come to the hospital / and visit / every mother needs their daughter at a time like this / take some time to heal /take care of yourself /send three dollars for the pillow slips /the tiger / the kitten and the doggie
Okema Trailer Park / April/'04
- Call your daughter / and see if you can get her to the hospital and visit / every mother needs their daughter at a time like this /sEND ME THREE DOLLARS FOR THE PILLOW slips / the tiger/kitten / and doggie /
series never completed /2004 /Okema Trailer Park
- We are about to go crazy/ then PAUL SHOWS UP / I knew his life was not the clubs like first he thought/ I knowed Paul since I was a little girl /and you and nanaw would come down / We moved to the trailer park about the same time Winnie died.......
yr.2000 /Mulberry Street /We are discouraged
- Nothing /comes from nothing /the eye knows /what the heart sees / We sleep close / to the paint / the box sits next to the mattress /my journal lies / kissing the tubes
Saturday, May 9, 2009
FLEA MARKET SERIES a dump /waste of time
- A frail woman wearing a bicycle helmut / caresses my egg-shell plate with blue roses / I STAND A SHIUELD AGAINST THE SUN /HOLDING MY UMBRELLA / sHE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT MY TOOTHLESS MOUTH /SHE'S SURE THAT I WOULD BE MORE ATTRACTIVE WITH DENTURES / SHE BUYS THW PLATE /RIPS ME OFF FOR TWO DOLLARS.I'LL get her back next week.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
HOLD THE DAY BACK /A FLAG
- Janet's gone /Now I'm the fem-fatale of the building /country folks /AFRICA /MEXICO /P uerto Rico /Dominican Republic / Lupe cook crystal Meth on wEDNESDAY /WE STAY HOME /THE BUILDING IS BURNING /BABY-GIRL IS BIRTH
work unti it hurts /fight /put your soul into it
- Steve says you can't go back / old friends from childhood / we are working at the Hudson river / you are tired and lean on fence to paint /
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
seems there are two baby sister poems
- Dear baby sister /you're only forty / a line from Elizabeth /I want to hold you / oh no / how good you've grown / and no one knows /li' sis /the skinny one who eats french fries /whose head's on backwards / the good one /the good sister / the leah / the les / the more / you will find love /in your backyard again / between the stones and the blades of grass you whiustle in Central Park through / CENTRALI / YEAS MY VISION SAYS YOUR MATE'S IN sAN sALVADOR / HE'S BLIND BUT he knows your eyes / when you gonna stop pushin; /jus'cept the dayz n' nights / long though sometime they seem /lil' sis /the one who tried crack cocaine /married the INDIAN man jus' to help him immigrate / married the man with the son / the one whose jewish and alone /lest she lose her heritage /my sister /the one with the marble eyes /pink skin / and golden hair / the one who stretches her body up and sideways / Inside and out / my you are some woman / you didn't have to be sent away / you ran away /with pigtales /and a pack on your pack / no rosebud hands / they never let us go /they wanted our power /and they held us back miss les /Miss Les /miss le/ah /le /ah /your eastern religions took growth in you and not one fuckin' person knew /you were cut /and were taught /no one understood / you are
To STEVE / FROM THE gREYHOUND Bus
- JUST RIDING OUT NOW / I APPRECIATE THE TRIP / THE GETAWAY / THE HOME BOUND / THE BREAK IN ROUTINE BUT i LOVE YOU AND i LOVE nEW York /but I miss the kids /back home / the D,P,N AND A /BESIDES YOU HAVE A LOT to look at while I'm gone --I liked the kiss at the subway station /you know the workshop is the 7th /so spread the word /thereare fliers in the yellow box next to the bed / cross the old date out / It's too bad that I DIDN'T GET TO THE nEWYORICAN ON Wed. /I wanted to---This bus is stuck in the Lincoln tunnel / IT WILL BE A LONG ride /stay busy / I'LL BE BACK 'FORE YOU get too mad or sad or what yoiu do when I'm not there...
IV----E.K. funeral in Indianapolis-1991
- The Death /The life / the here now / the incarnation of suffering / we cool down / the language transcends / the papers /who will buy the papers / the paranoia / YOU CANNOT COVET AN ARTIST / When push comes to shove /it's you /me /Elizabeth /and STEVE / wHERE IS MY VOICE / MY GREATEST ALLY / tHE METAPHOR SHINES / THE IMAGINATION CRAWLS / THE addictions surrendered to love / to death / WE'RE WORKING ON IT / They said at the va hospital / remember / it's in the telling / / all the warts never showed / we are keepers of great truths / our silence is golden..
PART 111 /e.K.'s funeral /Crown Hill Cemetary 1991 -March
- Mrs. taylor /ETHERIDGE'S MOM LOST IT / THE LAST VIEW / SAYING GOODBYE TO jUNIOR / HER BABY BOY / THEY TOOK HIS HAT AND pALESTINIAN SCARF / AND CLOSED THE BOX / bLY RODE WITH fRAN /jEAN /AND GROUPIES / BACK TO free WILL baptist Church / for a chicken supper / just the way he would have wanted it / I sat with Yusef / we talked more than we have ever had / a rec room in the basement /the kids in small rooms / we ate and saw each other as one / all one / We wait...
over the hole at the CROWN hill Cemetary for Etheridge KNIGHT ; a great poet /dear friend
- fLOWERS /glads carnatioins / so soft that no one could hear the coffin as it is lowered into the hole / WE KNEEW HE WAS GONE /FOR NOW / HIS SPIRIT LINGERS CLOSE / HIS PERSONALITY SINGS IN EACH OF US WHO KNEW HIM / WE ARE HIM /HE IS US / tHE BOX / THINLY COVERED WITH A LAyers of flowers / On the program /a picture of E.K. IN HIS aFRICAN HAT ..wHERE IS THE pOET / AND A GOING HOME POEM / A GIFT / THIS FUNERAL IS A GIFT FROM THE FAMILY / A FINAL GIFT FROM the KNIGHT FAMILY / tAKE SOME FLOWERS /THEY SAY / A TOKEN / OUR LOVE /OUR BROTHER /THANK-YOU N OTES WERE GIVEN / AND THE PAPER FANS /
Etheridge knight's Funeral /April '91 / Our family loveds Eth /he gave us hope at a critical time
His sisters brought mums to set on the coffin at the cemetary / a red/white cross covered w/flowers held a note; i LOVE YOU Dad ,Zack /sat at his head / nurses ran to catch your second tear with tissue /The corpse of E.K. /IN A SILVER/HARDWARE WOODEN BOX AT THE fREE Will bAPTIST /FOUR MINISTERS /ONE PRIEST /ALL LOVING /Stories about his goodness /the sisters burst into hysteria at different times of the service / HIS NIECE cANDY HYSTEWRICAL /THE love he gave is coming back / each friend had a poem or letter they had written to Mr. E.K, eLIZABETH SAT IN THE FRONT WITH tHE FAMILY /Solid as rock / the final viewing / the procession / poets all assigned to sit on the left /the heart side / Steve Ziliak held Jude/in his arms /Steve holding me / Holding him / Patricia and lan /Richard and Ash / lost in the malaise of folks / Patricia never got to say I LOVE you to Etheridge after he bought her painting / Tandy's birthday /the 23rd / Patricia sang three songs at the cemetary/ I SAID tHE bONES of My Father / and The Sun Came / jean crouched
mama /Sue / what fell off Battleground POEM /1981
- sHE LOVED WHITE FOLK /FOR GIVING HER WORK /AND SHE MISTRUSTED THEM FOR NOT PAYING HER ENOUGH / nEWLSON WAS DIfferant / he only had love / HE COME OVER AND SING TO Us /sit and drink coffee /tie the babies shoes and do whatever he had the strength to do / he bought big sticks of perermint downtown and bring us a bag of pieces...
NOTES / EARLY WRITINGS NEVER PUBLISHED / 1981
- MOSTLY WE'D RAT ON ourselves /like trying to get the individual grants for children born in Canada / moneys owed to us for birthing babies in Quebec...Trying to get Federal programs for our children while living in a slave quarters in rural Georgia / it was a law that school kids have electricity and running water in their homes / I'd crave something to take me out of this reality and into a feelingless place / My psyche remained sub-divided..I read to the kids by candlelight and we bathed babies in the Oconee River / When our eldest got on the schoolbus in the morning their eyes sparkled and their vision was keen ..They tested five years ahgead of themselves /
A LOVE POEM TO sTEVE /1992 /iNDPLS. /FINDING THE FOCUS
- fLOWERS Grown in snow / your quiet ways /you whisper my name /little bird /faygola /fanny /francy / I sit alone /TRY TO jUMP start myself /I hear you / I GIVE YOU POEMS /TALISMANS TO HANG AROUND YOUR NECK / Gold waves dance on the bed / a cold nose presses against my shoulder blades /what of this love / what of this love / your eyes drink me / the stories /JIMMY anJudy the twins dancing in the courtyard in QUEENS /aND rosie hitting me in the stomach for lying 'bout winning the IPANA pONY....
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
1977/we return to the city ,NY,after thirty yrs / we are enthusiastic
- I am always clutching /papers / like my mother clutches her keys /Moses /moses levy stoller / now fourteen yrs. old dissappears in to the crowds of Chinatown /wew ponder nights /the demons finally leAVE / cHINESE ELDER WOMEN /KNEES BENT WALK/SWIFTLY /PRETTY COTTON-PRINTED SHIRTED SISTERS WITH SHOR HAIR ONE LOUSE FALLS ON MY BACK /WE KNOW THE DREAM IS REAL /mOSES /NOW 14YRS OLD HAS NEVER LEFT SMALL TOWNS BEFORE / Moses//We drive a hard bargain/Steve paints and I poet...
JULY /1997 /ARRIVING in N.Y. ,for the 4th time
- We settle Mulberry Stree /Steve paints a picture for survival...we ponder nights ..wonder...make it moses levy Stoller /we slewep on the floor /MOSES/Moses / moses LEVY stoller / the demons finally leave /one after another / with no one to tell / chinese elder woman /knees bent /walk swiftly /pretty cottoned print sisters /sandals and short hair /one louse falls on my back and we know the dream is real /around Chinatown and Little ITALY /A marketplace/ Moses /now fourteen yrs. old disappears into the crowd . Holicost summer Applecity / this rock city / we drive a hard bargain /we have our artillery /weapons --the poems --the paintings...
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