last stop, terrapin station
TRANSCRIPT
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Contents
I
Boys and Girls in America 3
Why doesnt drinking ever learn its lesson? 5On the Highline 6
School Dance 7
tie dye delight 8
The Dining Room 9
Salvation II 11
Memo to My M.O. [what the hell is a modus operandi?] 12
II
novella 17
What Happened in Apartment 4A? 25
III
Everywhere But Here 33in my dreams 35
listen for in-spir-ation 36
an unnecessary incident 37
Salvation 39
Me & You 40
Gone 41
lost laugther in the white mountains 42
Color Photos in The New York Times 44
Statement of Poetics from the Author 48
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I
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Boys and Girls in America
for Jack Kerouac
Isnt it true that you start your life a sweet child, believing ineverything under your fathers roof? Took off his oversized
smoking jacket & penny loafers and went to burn trees in
Prospect Park with friends. Spoke about god and dust and space
and how plants work, especially the one we burn. Gained some
new thoughts. We fumed and screamed in our metropolitan nook,
mad drunken Americans in the mighty land. Let us go far away
from the metropolis cesspool. The verdure of the park is closest wecome to nature without leaving home. Seek New Englands terrain.
Listen to The Hold SteadysBoys and Girls in America. Had such
a sad time together the night we got locked up.
Singing 90s alternative rock tunes. Raised voices echo from the
woods every youthful summer. We were in the concrete jungles of
America and all we could do was yell fuck across the night. Then
a complete silence fell over everybody. Staring at starless skies
when the batteries killed the sound & the cricket symphony started
to play Festival Overture in E at major. Kiss me. And for just a
moment I had reached the point of ecstasy that I always wanted to
reach. Blew smoke in her face to show I care. Recite songs from
our preschool days to ll the air with somethin besides dope and
smog. There is still a nontoxic hope.
Search for the mythos hiding inside my chest cavity using surgi-
cal exploratory tools: the road, scalpel, a few dollars and the never
ending dream of her. Whats your road, man? Do you have the
balls to pick up and go? Remember her warm body. Here I am a
child of the American rock night.
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When the sun goes down on Lookout Point and I sit on the old
broken-down bench outside the woods watching the long, long
skies over Brooklyn and sense all that industrial land that rolls in
one unbelievable huge bulge over the East Coast, and all that road
going, and all the people dreaming in the immensity of it... andtonight the stars wont be out again, and dont you know that God
is Bugs Bunny?
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Why doesnt drinking ever learn its lesson?
She loved the autumn elds while the sun set, he loved her titian
curls in the wind, dancing to sounds of the earth singing.
PRIVATE PROPERTY NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Disregarding the sign protecting the cemetery felt so right and that
evening they poured some out for Montgomery Clift.
As a kid he was always curious about why Benny breathed in
and out, in and out, in and out through one paper bag then drank
from another on the Parkside bench. As a teen he learned why theneighborhood called him Benny glue head.
Being able to drink in bars at sixteen sped up life for them. To
keep a rep in a town where people thrive on being professional
alcoholics, it is easy to end up with scarred knuckles and a broken
nose.
The Sunday morning delivery of the Daily News & the brown
paper bag of bagels and rolls against the bodega storefront fell
victim to drunkards stumbling across 5th avenue.
People age slowly when you see the same faces every day.
Drink like a human hun, your killin ya liver!
Every time she sees the scar on her cheek, the mental video replays
over until tears temporarily wash it away.
Flames lit up the woods with rage from the beast after seeing her
with another guy. The arsonist was yet to be found.
The glare from the rising sun woke him in a parked car along the
expressway when he realized it wasnt his blood on the windshield.
She drowns herself in bourbon after his funeral.
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On the Highline
A bell rings and it remind me of church
When was the last time I was in a church for church?
not a readingnot a funeral
not a forced holiday
will I ever go back?
On a wooden bench with a imsy back
I am sitting next to four Asian girls, noYoung women
Chinese, Japanese, Korean, I cant tell
They all look like sisters
Yelling at each other
A ock of birds exotically chirping
The cute one leans against the rail
Pink sunglasses matching her dress
I pretend I understand the conversation:
Take a picture
Take a picture
Smile Beverley
CHEESE!
Whered you get those shades girl
That dress makes your butt look big
Hey guys, lets get outta here
Look at this creep staring at us
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School Dance
Speak to me
and it sounds like white noise.
Yea, I saw her stop dancing with youWhen she realized
That was cum on your pants
Stare at me
and all I see is white light.
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tie dye delight
like the old hippie smokin a bone
frolic to the Dead,
feel free
ask the shaman for a quarter
open your mind, dance
with me
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The Dining Room
The dining room was many colors over the years
Green, red, white, beige and it is now magenta with a white ceiling
The china closet glass looks me in the face
The china plates have never held my food
The crystal glasses have never touched my lips
I store concert tickets on the right side of the closet
I also keep money in a mini ceramic urn
Those spots are for safe keepings
My birthday candle is stored in the china closet
A little Indian boy sitting in Indian style with an orange candle
coming from his head
A birthday card is put in the little slip where the wood and the glass
window meet
It holds the card on one side, thus on display for anyone to read
No one does though. After a couple days they go in the trash
On Sundays the sauce would be lling the dinning room with the
aroma of tomatoes & meats
Whenever mother would fry the eggplant and chicken cutlets were
my favorite times
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I would be allowed to grate the mozzarella at the dinning room
table for her to make them parmesan
The good old days of my innocence
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Salvation II
The Salvation is hidden in the woods
Seek ItFeel It
Find It
Take It
Oneself
Out into the great wide open
Grasp a hold
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Memo to My M.O. [what the hell is a modus operandi?]
Spray paint from seven years ago remind tears to squeeze out as I
pass by the granite monument where teenage angst skateboards on
memories.
Ash trays and Tupperware ll my oak dresser drawer I call it the
Shrine and after so many years the smell becomes unbearably
pungent, like a resin mold funk living in unison with my shirts and
underwear, so my mother makes me clean it. But I dont.
Evolution Neighborhood bums are an endangered species.Survival of the ttest and procreation are killing of the locals.
I picked some owers for our rst date and you broke out in hives.
Urticaria brought us together.
Revolving doors spin round and round get me dizzy and I relapse
on adrenaline again.
I met her through my friends cousin technically at the time
he was not my friend, rather an acquaintance, since I only spoke
to him at the neighborhood bars, which were the only times we
crossed paths and I did not even have his number. He eventually
became a friend. I guess alcohol, cigarettes and the Mets were what
bonded us.
The days of cutting class and playing lets get fucked up in the
park bushes called the bum spot are gone. Now we play indoors.
Sharing surprise party for returning soldier and jealous little
brother are crashed by drunken stepfather.
Walking past the boarded up movie theater smells like pot and I
start to crave popcorn. When we turn the corner holding hands,
her mother asks us if we want a rip. You decline, I accept with a
gracious smile and cough up some greenish brown phlegm.
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Nothing is a good idea, but rather an opinion on how your
conscience eyes deem t.
Kicking every garbage can over on the walk home from Farrells
helps suppress the reality that you really are gone.
Seeing childrens sticky faces from cherry ices while their parents
eat lemon with a wooden spoon in front of the pizzeria reminds me
of summer days in the park with everyone that I now shut out of
my life.
Recuperating from hangovers is a weekly hobby, better than a dailyhobby. Sometimes.
Losing my right shoe on the side of the turnpike and losing my
best friend taught me a life lesson. Dont drive drunk.
The most expensive, exclusive sneakers were once something I
cherished. Breaths and heartbeats are so much more valuable intodays economy.
The winter encourages red hands and cold ngers and it is not from
making and igloo or a snow man.
Instead of learning about Shakespeare or science, children learn
about drinking kegs, selling drugs and pissing in bushes.
I take big sips from fathers ask to feel like a real man, maybe
it will put hair on my chest, and I rell it with water to avoid a
beating.
Steal a twenty from mom with her knowing Im getting high.
We laugh in the wet grass holding hands until the sun comes up
and I can nally go home, but not without the thoughts of hate and
if I will ever make peace with myself.
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I remember sitting on the boulders right off the hill and asking
you with all sincerity why are all the things that we do so bad for
you, but feel so fucking good, and you kissed me softly where my
sideburn would be if I was a man and told me we were over.
Getting arrested for all the wrong reasons and spitting in the cops
face for all the right ones did not help in court.
Playing hockey and basketball encouraged us to make positive
decisions, but why did we all decide to drink our childhood away?
Sex in the rain never felt right, but we did it anyway.
Bob Dylan played across the eld as the coolers slowly dwindled
and my vision became less coherent but my ears still worked
properly and I remember being on the pavement thinking about the
government and if it is more fucked up than I am.
Staring at the puppies in the pet shop window on 5th avenue and Inotice my glare showing me a small stream of blood seeping from
my nose and I wipe and nothing is there.
Eating potatoes and eggs at midnight with grandpa makes me
smile, which I havent done since the summer of 97, and he told
me what I should do to make things right.
Confess all my sins to my mother. Her pastor is a pedophile and we
cry.
Those loose pants told me the more things change, the more they
stay the same.
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II
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novella
fall down face plant the steps of the house
blood trickles from fat lip
pissing the bed
yellow & red stains seep into bedbug territory
the easy way to escape is drink or drug
but the high doesnt last for too long
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demons with burned faces haunt the psyche/families of
wounded folks once buried after war/a wreath of thorns hang from
a wooden door on national drive/pierce and spill blood on the
cement sidewalk paved over the esh of the original city.
spend nights at a coke bar/theyre all coke bars/drowning in
canadian club whiskey/numb entrails slowly weaken thought
process/think with the head not guts/provoke the lost smile to come
out and play again.
the gut takes over thought process/leave smile home/order drinks
till cross-eyed and painless.
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eyes met at the jukebox
hips hypnotize with each step
walking sex
the goggles are made to see objects not peoplehidden beyond eyes
bewildering blue
she commands to dig into her
epidermal pores exchange uids
stench of a dark ladies room is clear of urinals
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deliberate inebriation/run from the demons lurking and creeping
around in dark corners/ barrooms hidden in basements/phantoms/
watch over the walk-in fridge where she sniffs lines off cases of
budweiser/chase with a vicodin/level out/undressed hard nipples.
she cums again.
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hes gone. gone. nothings gonna bring him back. hes gone.
he is in hearthe is in mind
he is in arms
legs
hands
guts
hair
stomachfeet
eyes
nose
kept alive inside
kept alive through ones embodiment of him
kept alive
the smell of his old baseball jersey and cap
the vitamins you advised one a day
the scar from a ght slamming head on little red park slide
the glass angel sitting on a mantle above the bed
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bar air is toxic/do not breathe re lungs/dead only till the hit wears
thin/shoe laces are the thickness preferred like your thighs tight
in those jeans/kept alive till 99 bottles of beer on the wall/ pink
oyd records spin all night/speak of a woman yelled & my sis
slapped the bitch & kicked out the old school jams/beatings/alwayssurround violence or sex no one keeps the peace.
drinking hours bodega storefront/no lights after dark/crawlspace
conned piss stain queen mattress/the sun and esh comes up
again.
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spiral staircase inside the cranium
spin out of control, need to regain consciousness
take off the goggles gain back the senses
realization of your departuredid not sink in when at your corpse
rather drowning in a cascade of booze
hitting the oor on several occasions
getting the shit literally beat out
impregnating her
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new day/44 hours later and a few days off the deep end/left
behind black eyed piece of brain bitten off at the cerebral stem/
in the corner of the room a rat picks at the chunk/doesnt like the
bitter taste/connect it back to the spinal cord/loose connections/
bedroom walls wont paint themselves/ask the rat to leave theroom/get dressed wash face brush teeth break glass with st/ tears
tear down past a lone pimple under cheek/the rat laughs so step on
the fucker and ush down the toilet/bad day little buddy.
Id like to apologize for being a fuck up
The angel falls off the mantle.
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What Happened in Apartment 4A?
The mind is full of boiled blood rushing against concentration from
having to start from scratch.
Observe the late night vehicles riding the Prospect Expressway can
not tell what models or makes only in each car truck or bus is a life
or lives residing in New York for a moment or a lifetime, a human
being driving the vehicle could be with companions, him her or
they pays bills, were birthed into the physical world Earth and may
have a pet, a cat or bird but probably a brown pudelpointer named
Mitch.
Dead Christmas lights border round algae incrusted pool in late
September.
Photoshop cartoon images of his twin infant daughters in neon
green electric blue avant-garde.
After Mr. Mahoneys class, sequences of dj vu in the schoolyard:
I be twistin in the mornin
twistin in the evenin twistin
afta suppa time Frankie
always sang with
a melody before lightingup the dipped cigarette. Shut up
ya burnout, hu huh Ricky always responded, as
they leaned perched against the brick wall
under the black staircase to the caf.
Dustheads.
A kindergarten classroom loaded with noisy children and nontoxic
paint of all colors leaves Carlos a mess of ngerprints after 3 p.m.
Quickly drive past a mangled black PT Cruiser, reminder of dead
water bugs on back in the basement.
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The subway on the corner a ride to the city with a tuna sandwich
covered in red onion and sweet peppers.
The dark clouds reign over frigid New York City on Halloween but
there is a drought in the Northeast.
A tribesman clad in regalia of eagle feathers and beaded buckskins
walks along Route 17.
Sermons on Parkside consisted of 40s, stuffed vanilla dutchies and
bullshit.
Sifting through ashes of a lost home in search for the portrait of a
dead brother.
Computers take on roles of functioning human beings. Pay a one
time fee rather than weekly.
I stare across Flatbush Avenue elevated in a classroom ofyoungsters when a man in overalls & orange hardhat makes eye
contact with me as he rides the workman elevator up a cobalt
protective wall of developing condos.
The guy and girl in apartment 4A both wear black nail polish
Do you think they
do each others nails?
I think she was a Scottish woman (disgruntled wrinkly forehead,
ball ended nose and ery red hair and matching cheeks) who rode a
bike in a knee length skirt and I wonder how comfortable that is.
The upheaval on 10th Avenue from a brawl last night spilled
alcohol fueled blood on the old gum and sparkle lled cracked
cement sidewalks.
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On the R train the girl with a red backpack had grass stains on
the knees of her dark blue jeans and the brown haired boy with a
3-inch scar on his lip shared a brown-bagged drink with her.
Crates of jazz and classic rock albums collect dust in the closet.
The letter for jury duty goes directly into the shredder.
The thump sound from a phantom black car zooming by shook
the ground and probably deafened the woman walking her golden
retriever.
This was not the same boardwalk as today. After World War II
the boardwalk slowly, but inevitably, started to decay. Between
the post war effects an intense rise in drugs, gangs and violence
it was bound to happen. Coney Island was once a resort where
families went to vacation, bond and love, during a time when
decent moral values were supplementary.
A starsh in the aquarium plays possum.
The decorative spike of the black fence pierced little Nickys hand
amid a game of manhunt.
The door knob is such a sophisticated vention.
The radiator was as cold as her feet when he woke on Valentines
Day morning.
The Knicks lose an upset if only one of the twenty four missed
threes went in.
In the darkness the glow from the silent speaker power light
illuminates where the pens and stapler lay at rest.
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The red and white tower resembling a mini Eifel with grey
satellites controlling god knows what was around in the 1960s and
still stands strong.
Standing outside of McDonalds begging for change or working thesubway probably pays way better than minimum wage.
The cabin had methodical wooden interior corresponded with the
chestnut colored tiles that scattered the oor like a perfectly knit
quilt.
The August heat was rising ferociously as we walked through theforest, trying to dodge the patches of poison ivy. The ve of us
were surrounded by wilderness; a wide array of trees and bushes,
with a man-made worn in dirt path guiding us to our destination.
The land became more and more eroded; a hill that gets steeper
and steeper, and the more you walk, the more you feel it in your
calves. We kept journeying the hill, passing all the assorted plant
life till we reached our goal.
He leaned against his yellow Gremlin outside Katz Deli while
waiting for his mother with the order.
A young man hopped on the subway track and grabbed a ve
dollar bill. Is the risk really worth a ve?
A man does an autumn photo shoot of himself in the woods on the
Catskill side of the Rip Van Wrinkle Bridge, dressed in all white
and jumping around, bouncing off tress and capturing the images
mid air, as if he was Neo in the Matrix,
Piss in a phone booth on 42nd street and get a ticket from an
undercover ofcer.
The light of the re slowly burns out as the sun creeps up the next
morning.
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The Tupperware has grease stains from Spanish steak and rice with
red sauce.
The handshake is clammy.
The door bell rings. Out the foyer window, Jehovah Witnesses
gather around the neighboring homes. A glass of water and back to
the cozy bed.
The bag of disheveled crayons from childhood sits on a shelf
collecting dust.
In the parlor lled with plastic coated furiture, a grandfather tells
childhood stories to the children as the adults drink coffee and
smoke cigarettes in the dinning room.
The hawks y above the tree tops and one darts towards Earth,
only to rise back joining the ock holding a rat or possum in its
talons.
A Stapler with Brooklyn Union Gas printed on it is two decades
old.
Antelopes run from hunters after the rst shot is red.
Addidas tennis shoes with holes in them are used for shing.
Some asshole threw a ham sandwich out his car window and hit
my bike while riding on the side of the expressway.
The empty afternoon bar was dead air. No music played through
the sounds system.
Raul nger picked smooth jazz scales on a red Les Paul.
Lying on the cold oor printed on computer paper is 3 Pages by
Ted Berrigan.
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Leaning against the cold fence staring out into the familiar scene,
I was admiring the orange and purple war going on in the sky. Ill
never forget that image. It was the last innocent image I remember
seeing. To this day, every time I see that war I cry.
The voice in the f.m. radio at 2 a.m. enables me to create a face for
him: sixty two, white wrinkly forehead, silver hair, wear and tear
gut from years of drinking and blow. He loves Cream, Allmans and
Skynard because he plays them the most and the late shift cause he
can get away with boozing on the job.
Cheers Ladies and Germs, here is one of my faves
in a white room
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III
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Everywhere But Here
The scene: the new guy punching the biggest guy in the cafeteria
only happens in the movies.
The convicts uproar when stale meatloaf is served for the fth
time in eight days.
Running mascara through plexiglas windows anger him when he
cannot help her wipe it away.
A cellmates thoughts are incandescently hidden in dark cornerslike a childs in time out.
The boy, the girl and fairy tales at 3:00 a.m.
Beatings occur in the west cell block mace and vomit dry into
this weeks clothes.
The warden wears a suit assuming a man of high stature.
The color of coffee lightens behind these concrete walls.
Smiles at the facility only occur in ofces. Only other place you
might nd a smile: in dreams.
Weep until the well is dry. Become numb.
Making brown bag lunches a thing of the past, yearning of the
future.
The citric smells of a womans vagina is a fading memory.
Violence is a normal part of ones newly acquired culture.
Nurse Victor and the rest of the U.S. bring Ol Jinky his daily x in
a little white paper cup.
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Picture of son in youth jersey #8 is taped to the stone wall. Rules
of football are long forgotten.
The last car seen July, a red Ferrari hanging on Toms cell wall.
Her sixteen candles are blown out while trying to remember what
birthday cake taste like.
Time is no longer a factor for some.
Reveries of the past become a focal point in keeping a stance onsanity.
The stench of piss wafts into the corridor and not one sour face is
made.
Spend two weeks in the hole for hoarding a cell phone and Red
Man.
Right of a prisoner is rite of passage.
Every night before attempts at slumber lights out.
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in my dreams
When grandma dies I know my time is coming closer and I
am aging, getting older and getting nowhere. The mantles with
pictures of your grandchildren and mirrored portrait of grandpasfavorite the horse number 8 were reality but in my dreams the
horse and the kids are dead.
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listen for in-spir-ation
not
spir-itual
lost
ruins
the aztecs & appalachian trail
remains
hidden
a ghost
quiet voice echoes
misplaced headless body
in mountain nooks & jungle jade
searching
valleys
deserts
NYC
LA
north
west to eastsouth
hidden among the living
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an unnecessary incident
for Monte Freire
a boston red sox fanfrom new hampshire
stabbed in the chest
at the chowder pot restaurant
in branford connecticut
by a new york yankees fan
from new haven
a dispute over
professional baseball
teams
a boston red sox fan
underwent surgery
to repair trachea& upper esophagus
in yale-new haven
medical
a son waits for his father
in the empty waiting room
praying
a new york yankees fan
charged with:
rst degree assault
interfering with an ofcer
tampering with evidence
breach of peace &
possession of a controlled substance
leaves the hospital
with minor injuries
in handcuffs
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a boston red sox fan
comes out from surgery
alive
a son smiles at the doctors newsthen frowns
for the prognosis
is still unknown
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Salvation
Sole tranquility extrovert, the original body
Abstruse enters, enhances within
Let thy conquer the malevolence, destroyVermin director of immorality
Advocator of benevolence control
Take the sin residing
Internal necrosis within
Overcome the detestation
Now maintain the serenity soul
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Me & You
Layers of chemicals
Make up the land, me & you
Carbon and cuticles
Unequal yet equal too, me & you
Brown bag blues
Alligator shoes, me & you
That old tennis racket &Ol Pops chiseled tomb, me & you
Her red dress & Goldie Locks,
The hair on the bear, me & you
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Gone
Two blue foot prints stare at me
while she drives away in Pompeii
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lost laugther in the white mountains
slow day on mount washington
seek the white owl
tranquil snowy trailsask & ache in gloveless hands
day
hike
try to wait patiently
her shines slumber
him to arisenight
the man shows face
quickly fades
hidden behind a cloud
come out
reveal where owls y
hours go by
lay under dim lit stars
the man goes home
owls never seen
she does not shine anymore
clouds & lost laughter
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nights when you kissed my bottom lip and told me you loved me
and when you would make me pancakes and coffee breath made
us laugh and when you drank whiskey at dinner parties and make
snide comments about our parents we both laughed
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Color Photos in TheNew York Times
A lone man
No shirt, straw hat
Sits Indian styleCrying amongst the remains
Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption
Grey stones once formed buildings
Crumbles
He screamed as he rose
Miot Miot
The rubbleThe wreckage
Blue and white mattresses
Scatter under a matching tarp
Louis Richard, 17
Shares with 34 others, all ages
Hunger & famine midst the homespun tentA battle
Stay alive
Makeshift ambulances
Deliver a young mother & newborn
To the 82nd Airborne Division
Guards for the National Palace
Carry a bloody corpse to a US Navy helicopter
Fly away
Steam rises
A stadium in Jacmel
Women tend to pots of beans
Attempt to feed thousands & thousands
Disheveled faces
Port-au-Prince produce market
Cabbage
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Water from a truck
Dented canned fruit
Only in stock this week
Filthy handsHold daughters withered body
Sob & feed her the breast
Wipe away brown tears
Field hospitals setup on site
Alongside re & rubble
Wheelbarrows full of injuries
Being carried on backsWomen give birth
Women are raped
People cram in a red and yellow van
Upper & lower extremities
Dangle from every window
Destination: Les Cayes
A group of men, woman & children
Stare at US troops
Where the walls are down
The garden of the Presidential Palace
Corporal Sajous explains in Creole
Orphans board a plane to Pittsburg
A Haitian police ofcer
Threw a looter to the ground
Pointed his pistol
But did not shoot
A family gathers from a fallen home
White plastic patio chairs
Pillows & blankets
Mattress
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Crayons
Clothes stuffed in a beige leather suitcase
A French board game
A boy rides his bikeOn a small dirt pathway
Downed power lines
Sodden wood
The descent of buildings
A once functioning
Downtown Leogane
The mourners march through the streets
Gather around his black hearse
The women sing for Guy Perpignant
Their pastor
During the funeral
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Statement of Poetics from the Author
Exploring the language on the page, whether reading or writing the
words, is a unique world a habitat to be dissected, deciphered
and translated, then celebrated amongst other readers and writ-ers involved in the poetic community. Sharing poems, performing
readings and collaborating with other poets become irresistible.
My venture intoLast Stop, Terrapin Station has brought my ambi-
tions to another level and my growing improvement on the poetics
has evolved. Experimenting with the newly introduced poeia has
elevated and opened up the page for me. Creating poems daily
becomes an obsession. The pen hits the paper and I am reading infront of a mirror in my basement, performing and working with my
vocals. I have acquired a vast amount of knowledge this semester
and am going to keep at it. From the mysterious one liner to pages
of constructions searching for the mythos,Last Stop, Terrapin
Station has evolved by digging into the past and producing in the
future.
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