phone mesh

animal carcasses in alleys
poisoned cats bloodied dogs abandoned horses
sand and mud sedimenting into tunnels under streets
virtuous delusion
obscure good
wicked favor
stones sharp shards and sewage in sidewalks and roadways
oh from the sea that surrounds us
yellow copper stoppered with lead
ringing opens the seal
power appears in fog and smoke
speak civilly and firm with empathy and hope
cast your net
give the brightly colored fish to your sultan

city offices at sunrise
(the first 311 service in the united states was piloted here in 1996, with help from the department of justice community oriented policing services office, to reduce 911 call volume—in 2000 call data started being analyzed to evaluate performance of city agencies)

in the eye of turtle island

when i withdraw
look out at my back spreading like the life of a mountain
i’m not sure the bipeds will learn i am here in some way to save them
from surviving only as machine

herring run at sunrise
(the mid-atlantic turtle & tortoise society incorporated in 1997 using po box 22321
In zipcode 21203—turtles have been on earth for a quarter of billion years, schist in herring run for half a billion, and gneiss in herring run for a billion)

underlying patapsco

floating in the streets on the water
a time mirage
the beginning of value trust exploitation
winds earthfired and solar sweep across
chappedsmooth hands dangle and grasp from walking torsosleeves
their notions predatory desperate seek dissipating warm glow
rocks that burn
pieces of stars
promises
molded earth
minted metal
words that echo in dopamine
calculated payments
breathing dying debtors to the sun

church window at sunrise
(alex brown and sons, the baltimore-based first investment bank in the united states, was sold to bankers trust in 1997 and absorbed into deutsche bank two years later—brown memorial park avenue presbyterian church on park avenue and lafayette streets memorializes george, alexander’s son)

noplace

rescued superfluidities
coursing through shared pipes stopping combined gloria conservation mass
blistering superchilled chemicals proud and seething
defying the simple air surrounding
lording atoms
great continuance uncommoded
serene industrial sharing
shall congregate and mingle in fellowship
letting a long beautiful utopian scream

caol pier at sunrise
(in 1995 the fairfield peninsula was designated an ecological industrial park, and industrial symbiosis spontaneously and completely transformed the city, region, and state)

crane buddha and toad

an august early morning
in city brick asphalt soil grass and trees julyabsorbed
a red brown black toad poised unglazed as clay
on a knee of buddha turned away from his gaze
from high unseen rare untimely
a grey crane alights on buddhas head
a glorious globe unfolding in the sun
ball of medicine paper burning with color and flowering stigma
crane folds its wings in predatory prayer
toads beautiful heart beats faster and broken
buddha smiles
after eating an ant and lichen toad hops to arbor vitae
crane loosens and swallows a stone of clay and spirals away
buddha remains serene eroding
cast toad into the city and crane into the world
to share hunger
for wet muddy reeds and rice in unsplit unfused atoms of drenching rain

buddha at sunrise
(in 1994 artist, teacher, and peace activist noriko ikaga formed the statue of buddha near dickson and lafayette streets—act for peace http://www.icanw.org/)

both hands on trident

while i was gone
a pretty oily heavy metal unquenchable cruise
lost from calypso
drink the high thunderheads
swallow the strafing carpeting shrapnel walls of rain
cast away churning deep
under speed of sound winds southeast northwest
struggle to surface
to skyscraper higher billowing strike
in awful gloom
scatter

fairfield at sunrise
(in 1993 sea witch salvage began dismantling the uss coral sea and the uss illusive at a fairfield shipyard, and proceeded to endanger workers and dump asbestos, oil, scrap, paint chips, and other pollutants into the patapsco until sun reporters took notice in 1995)

radiumsmellslike

here in piano box selfmotoring in darkness
victim nazis in vicious dual intercourse voracious
dense light in still smoke breaking into salute worship
amnesia watermuck drips out our heads
burning saliva distends bullsroar
lovestrings oscillate on mountains undershore
future falls around us like rain.
motors tweet into lightyears journey
leaving us ever not living here
drummers in dreams after waking from sleep
melt into glowing fading tambourine
something said to be heard in the ocean
parts of one note in language not spoken
flows putrid serenity to inner ear breathing
paddlers into collapsing brainmuck throw rescueladders start dampmotors
then walk out onto crunching strings of numbers
hammering on one uncertain music
gloriously lost in a place to be alone
that nobody might find us

busted zappa at sunrise
(frank zappa composed civilization phase iii before dying in 1993, a bust of him is on top of a steel pillar outside the southeast anchor library on eastern avenue and conkling street)

reionize

measured unmeasured states
bathed in stellar wind
click
explosive expansion waves excite a planet
shapeshifters save us
from dying in half sky

space institute at sunrise
(a meeting on the status of women in astronomy was convened in 1992 at the space telescope institute at 3700 san martin drive)

lizard

you wont remember
packages from china near sisson and twentyeighth
large numbers from medical centers
cramming spaces under streets
suffering
confinement by physicians researchers planners engineers
smelling organic explosives
escaping in locksprawl ambush
primal urge to consume polaralterizing diet
shapeshifting inside and out
until alienselfreunion
in streets of pure celebration

lizards at sunrise
(records and a map of murals installed since 1987 are published by the city https://outcomestat.baltimorecity.gov/dataset/Baltimore-City-Murals-Project-1987-to-Present-Map/7riw-dcxk, which started funding murals in 1975—john ellsberry created the reptiles moving east from jones falls crossing 28th on sisson)