Tag: baltimore

two antionettes

papa and i made a sèvolan
a bamboo krikèts back
joints turned round and hitched with digo thread
skin of silk from manmans maryaj sentiwon
special days it dansed in the van
in the sky with manman
we call it zwazo

papa said an òm fransè made a zwazo-sèvolan
named antionette like me
we went to see it on a very special day
piknik with taso bannann mamba and dous makos
and zwazo
we walked way up to druid hill

first we saw antionette over the vil
so small
we heard her like a marengwen
closer and bigger and bigger and byen fò
flying over our heads
prettier than zwazo
she circled like a lazy lò
then back over the vil

we are laughing still
in rèv i fly her to manman

from druid hill at sunrise
(in 1910 hubert latham flew an antionette-engine powered plane from halethorpe to fort mchenry, over downtown and patterson park, up to north avenue, around eutaw place then around druid hill park, then south, circling over 1217 saint paul street, over downtown and back to halethorpe–to win prize money offered by baltimore sun owners and also by ross r. winans)

with the devils of the sea

oxblood coral crushedstrawberry
rose runninginto ruby
paperthin bluesky mirrorbright snowplaintivewhite
sky between cloudsafterrain
fisheggs dewsprinkled
deadleafpurple
blackyellow blueblack gold
eelsblood paleblue
veins orangepeel shiveringice
oilywhite darkolive rainbowluster
applegreen pearldew
yellowcream palechocolate
cinnabar charcoal goldsprinkled
teadust ironrust
sunsteel
greenvioletblack copper
copper bluegreen
rosewhite turquoiseblue
yellowearth
terracotta
twilight skypure watercalm settingsun sparklingriver
whitemarblestained sapphiresea lateautumn
stormhiddensunbathed rayguilded
meltingsnow leadensky
dullyellowsky curdlingfog
whitecap blackcoat greensatin redblood troddensnow
lightdark infinite
random chosen

bma at sunrise
(in 1909 henry walters remodeled four houses on charles street in mount vernon square and opened the art collection started by his father to the public)

waxed bronze

pause over
my appointment with violent death
cause over

sailors and sldiers at sunrise
(the union soldiers and sailors monument was sanctioned in 1906 and dedicated in druid hill park in 1910, roughly coinciding with three failed attempts to disenfranchise maryland african american voters—it was moved to wyman park near 29th and charles streets in 1959 out of the path of the jones falls expressway)

simulacra

ships entering harbor
like wet wooden wedges
split air and stone
blood in a growing infant
bones stretch and seep into presence
encoded dust settles out
as beautiful coils
in grottos under lapping water
by a shore
packs of dogs sleep
in dry bushes and rusting metal

customs house at dawn
(the united states customs house on gay street opened in 1907)

entrails

downhill
miles and miles
constantly falling
widening
crossing branches runs tunnels
pushed with petrol hearts
into settling solution
bacterial food
intestines reach like tentacles
throughout the underground
consumption dynamos
resonating in large hissing hum

cemetary wall at sunrise
(in 1906 at ensor and lanvale streets digging started for the sewage system)

boulevards to parks

along across ridges valleys
from city streets
through open forested uplands
water highways flatlands
from patterson to herring run back river bear creek
lexington to elkridge through halethorpe
lafayette to elicott through catonsville
druid hill to gwynns falls roland montebello
wyman to loch raven through towson
montebello to loch raven clifton
clifton to patterson
herring run to loch raven
green ways
in arcing sun
walking
in jet stream

toward golf course at sunrise
(many recommendations in the report upon the development of public grounds for greater baltimore by the olmstead brothers published in 1904 have been adopted—except our great parks remain unconnected)

anthrogaiapocene

i meet you in ashes
as we walk away from what had been
i learn about you
we make and destroy cities of hills by water
woven with hate
you are my second skin
we consume each other
please
scratch bleed wash chew and spit me
into something i cant see

redwood street at sunrise
(the great baltimore fire of 1904 started in the basement of a warehouse at hopkins place and german, now redwood, street)

who is who

blue skies fade white in glass
resolving clear in warm air
intoxicating reflection
in liquid suspended
over rough marble atop a thin column
inverted arch
vessel of windows and doors
opening murals mosaics in bas-relief
shimmering in polychrome of famous words
strolling nude bright eyes clean violence soaring music
grand schemes

belvedere at sunrise
(the hotel belvedere opened on chase street in 1903)

vast assemblage

in happy land
fortresses burn
schemes of bondage
storm
breaks rock in loud applause
peace and safety
find

armory to west at sunrise
(the fifth regiment armory on bolton and preston streets, built in 1901 and dedicated in 1903, hosted civic events and conventions, including the northeastern saengerbund shortly after its dedication)