baltimore – Page 23 – sunrise in a small city

inland harbor

fog wanders in not so often
like a thirsty stray dog
walking up the bay
a quiet flock of birds from the west
suddenly all around
becoming the chilling air
lingering
not moving on.
at last melting away

harbor at sunrise — (less fog helped the port of baltimore compete with the new york port in the 19th century)

being a carpenter

as if he were addressing thousands
of professed believers
he spoke with ardor and enthusiasm

first baptist at sunrise — (the first baptist church, established in old town in 1836 by moses clayton, erected its own building in 1880 on caroline street)

mah-hah-bone

from east, west, north, south political
in search of power
on the rails over the crossties
from the highest hills and the lowest vales
with fervency zeal grip and word
speculating
troweling cement into fissures in the sanctum sanctorum
time seizes they cry and shout
bees in a hive incensed
swords properly pointed
anchors weighed
scythes sharpened
shovels ready
foot to foot knee to knee breast to breast hand to back mouth to ear
launching the semi-sacred quest

square fountain at sunrise — (the first of many national political conventions in baltimore in the 19th century was held by the anti-masonic party at the athenaeum on lexington and saint paul streets in 1832)

pardon my mob

traders and jobbers and lawyers and cronies
who speculate and siphon
such fellows are not my fellow citizens

calvert and lexington at sunrise — (in 1835 baltimore citizens protested fraud associated with the failure of the bank of maryland by destroying property of those responsible for the fraud)

our most sanguine expectations

a beautiful white villa in the glade on the hill
as symmetrical as mercantile interests and power
evaporates like conversations forgotten
and repeating

montebello at sunrise — (general samuel smith, of montebello near the alameda and 33rd streets, exercised power politics at the local, state, and national levels through the first four decades of the 19th century)

el viaje guano

the most tricky scoundrels
with soaring trees and deep bogs
loam peat clay sand
animalia prokaryota
breathing
the slim skin.
we etch tattoo and seal
scratch bleach and scar
girdling
scattering salve
a whirling doctor
haunted by raspy echoing
that brings no rain
pero tal vez olor amoniaco

compton street at sunrise — (the fertilizer industry was pioneered in federal hill—the first shipment of guano from peru arrived in 1832)

maryland imperial

the board believe
the colonists are happy and contented and comfortable
removed from contact with the laboring population from europe
amalgamating the subjects of king freeman
indebted for the great blessing of christianity
the injurious and burdensome replaced by the white.
and still we let boards attempt to believe.
restore the wages

mount clare at sunrise — (the maryland state colonization society was incorporated in 1831, charles carroll was on the board)

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