Tag: baltimore

hellrule

a soul is untouched unknown
just beyond the vast universe of space
in each synapse
edgeplace peerover lookinto
glorious light
clearly unpoisoned

abandoned houses at sunrise
(in 1987 the centers for disease control and the american academy of pediatrics called for removal of all lead-based paint from housing–the accepted safe level of lead in blood continued to be lowered)

weapons from somewhere in passing

from the quickly forgotten morning mist of small orchards
a deer and two black dogs walked out together
and on the edge of tarmac and weed lawn under a stray peach tree
laid down to die after a last meal of rotting fruit
their souls together becoming viscous clear to pale-yellow
dwelled in and haunted the tanks of alcolac and kromfax
and travelled across wide oceans
to rain down on towns and battlefields in mesopotamia and persia
torturing and killing the sons of a father
who would lift up a scimitar to cut off the head of brave merchants
undissuaded by fantastic stories of magic and retribution

chemical tanks at sunrise
(in 1987 a fairfield industrial chemical manufacturer began selling and shipping unheard of quantities of the main ingredient of mustard gas to criminals who sold it to iraq and iran who used it to kill thousands of soldiers and civilians)

hopeless dawn

poached eggs red beans with rice crumpets
rested steaming
wild fowl oyster clams terrapin ham rockfish hominy
lay hidden nearby
vodka in red juice gin with clear vermouth
waited chilled next to single malt
languid and super fit might have talked
team up and wood work and what up and hip hop
and weed and sameness and distortion and things are worse
had they arrived to sip and dine
before stacie discovered
widgeon is an absolute ass

drones at sunrise
(the maryland club at 1 east eager street opened enrollment to jewish men in 1988, remains closed to women, and is in need of donations to the maryland club preservation foundation inc)

mother and pride

as if you will take me back into you
i eat your food
let your love wash over me
skim flying between your light and dark
you welcome me as i left
floating between life and death
before i dissolve into you and eternity

clipper memorial at sunrise
(in 1986 nina schack, vincent lazzaro, barry duckworth, and armin elsaesser were lost at sea with the pride of baltimore, which first sailed in 1977)

tunnelhinge

one of our universi
is a green paper diamond
top and bottom hemmed to each other
vertically pleated in light tapestry
folded upon itself
face creased
spine gently bent
as we nestle in larvae gut
another imaginal disc
is just barely scraped by fort mchenry tunnel–
on solsti pass through going fiftynine or ninetyfive holding your breath
think only justice and peace
you will travel light years or more
toward antennae of love in many worlds–
and back again

tunnel p;ortal after sunrise
(the fort mchenry tunnel opened for traffic and timetravel in 1985)

one percent solutions

a doctor of greed and his consultant
survey blue veins and red arteries
beneath thin white skin of dotted and scarred anthropocene
this time a needle right here
injecting tiny amounts of capitalcaine
capillaries excrete morphund
our doctor lounges in velveteen satisfaction and ecstasy
upthrusts a needle-like finger of steel and silicon
flagtopped
signifying fuck you

william donald schaefer building at sunrise
(merritt savings and loan started building the now william donald schaefer building at six saint paul street before collapsing in 1985 from gross mismanagement and misappropriation; the state paid chase 25 million to take over the business–and in 1993 bought the building for 12 million—starting the wholesale transfer of local financial firms to u.s. and international control)

wire song

words in rhythm of armies assembled with spears and shields from rowed sailing ships
feint through vast spaces in atoms near those sitting outside on starry nights
psalms in antiphony of dazzling light decaying shadows in canon
reverberate rising gliding down carved stone and glass
stories in passion aria duet trio ensemble
infuse in wax and waves of radio
buzzing chaotic humanity
planetstrapencoded
voices sounds
explode

point breeze at sunrise
(in 1984 the western union baltimore works on broening parkway at point breeze, where transoceanic cables and other telecommunications components were manufactured, closed)

fully lighted with fires

benjamin franklin butler camps in the warrens under federal hill
each day slowly in full uniform walks to the artillery
fires a shot into the heart of our city
our soldiers die east west southeast southwest
we have not surrendered
have not been destroyed
until we lift overhead our swords
then humbly lay them down
he pummels us like slowly dripping water

urban revelopment at sunrise
(a 1983 a civil rights commission assessment of city economic development recommended greater effort to foster black businesses, more equitable commercial lending, increased city contracting with black businesses, increased access to technical and management training for black community members, more aggressive corporate affirmative action, more relevant job training for unemployed community members, and immediate and concerted action to reduce unemployment—the mayor’s office responded that it was false to assume “that a government like ours bears sole responsibility for producing results”)

drawing out somewhere

cloud pillars etch lines around tired city faces
shadows push away from bright lights
moses uturns
myth hopelessly lost
pouring concrete into river of life
chariots heave gravel and sand
dry waters muddy land divide
children wall around pursuing encircles
sea becomes tarmac
aggregate of souls cast aside
and souls rotting iron in acid rain
flowing eddying promised hatred
some walk on utterly confused
moses, take the free way to egypt
command love and peace

uninterstate at sunrise
(I-170 was cancelled in 1981: I-595 was cancelled in 1983; route 40 continues to spread apart west baltimore)

shadecounter

a sailor returning
holds firm
ninety ways of smelling water
ripping into every meal
aortas veins feeding filtering
nerves ringing in wind
each day a space sealed and stowed
jet propelled through twisting time
on the rim of dim dark implosion
before memory stops

pier 3 at surnise
(the national aquarium opened as the baltimore aquarium in 1981 on pier 3)