baltimore – Page 22 – sunrise in a small city

unwanting

woolfolk slatter donovan purvis campbell harker denning
wilson hines fairbanks kephart anderson accinelly,
chained cargo to walk or be hauled down pratt in the middle of the night
to ships agent architect hyperion general pinckney intelligence kirkwood tippecanoe and victorine
and new orleans
uncounted sons or daughters or sisters or brothers or fathers or mothers or lovers.
penned
shackled
sweltered
frozen
drenched
whipped
auctioned.
cash for seamstresses
small fancy girls
fellows
hands
highest prices
always buying.
here is the short list to find our lost soul
adjustment amends atonement
compensation
damages
expiation
indemnification indemnity
punishment
quittance
recompense recoupment redress refund reimbursement remuneration repayment reprisal requital restitution retaliation
satisfaction settlement

west pratt street at sunrise — (several large slave-traders operated from locations around pratt street in the mid-19th century)

inbreeding the clipper

an osprey appeared in the mist
a falling meteorite into the harbor
almost unseen.
another soared twisting turning
outmaneuvering five crows giving chase.
a third skimmed to me
and became a beetle as it landed on my hand
large pincers for piercing fruit
eyes blood red and large for walking in dark shadows
serrated fangs for injecting venom
long antennae curled into smoke
reaching in my nose and oozing out my ears.
i put it in my mouth chewed and swallowed
so my children leave faint traces of its indigo exoskeleton
with each footstep

from swann park at sunrise — (designs adapted from the baltimore clipper were used to build slave-trade ships in the mid-19th century)

not considering justice

the standard of a body
sons who played a noble part
in the desire to acquire additional territory,
cordial and intense shame

south from battle monument at sunrise — (baltimore citizens gathered at the battle monument to support the theft of land from fledgling mexico in 1846)

metal of cyprus

from massive stars
the spark of every respiration
rolled and coiled around the world
so breathe the machines

cuba street at sunrise — (copper manufacturing was pioneered in locust point and canton starting in 1845)

broken loose together

through the bath the cistern and the hearth
a steady stream of living water

lloyd street synagogue at sunrise — (the first synagogue in baltimore, built in 1845, is on lloyd street)

omnibus from govanstowne

the road heads down rather pretty in sunrise afterglow
out of shadows
steam rises from waiting horses
passengers each silent alone in chilly morning
relaxing for the jolting commute
jarring thundering down to town
where steeples and towers and cobbles
are a red orange brown and grey
from green and purple groves and gardens
sounds of metal hammering steam and shouting join bird songs
around the channel to deep oceans
where markets are made.
now jump down and walk
with women and men whose names you may know