Category: politics

i believe him

come out here
swollen fruit dumped chemicals long evaporated
into struggle to worklive with respect
and desperation-bred grandiose plans
with new money
from dubai-on-patapsco

from seabury road at sunrise
(cherry hill homes public housing opened in 1945 after the end of world war II—cherry hill is between the middle branch, patapsco river, west patapsco avenue, and 295)

honor of selection

common standard
achievement housing health wellbeing
decent living
pleasing and worthy
for up and coming
substandardly housed people in need
carefully selected mainly family
in doomed wasteful toxic industry of allocation
more difficult than providing for all

affordable housing at sunrise
(poe homes affordable housing opened in 1940 on lexington and freemont streets with 298 of 1500 applicants delighted to have a basic human right fulfilled)

communitycide

commissioners sprawl about the table
misters bonefish, toadley, macflie, spongeson, and mahlisck
overwhelming putrid farting with donated cigar smoke
dulling single minds with gifted liquor
playing pocketpool with rolls of dough
sharing needles of noxious high
too many kings in the strange deck
they gamble away
children asleep by a coalbin outside
dream of greenfields and bent fishingpoles

southern districts shoreline at sunrise
(in 1922 southern and eastern districts were zoned entirely, including pockets of existing communities, for heavy industry)

how far you go

leeward
to peas beans melons cantaloupes asparagus crabs oysters
orchards picnics
sick sailors immigrants dying contagious with mary
suburban mirage manguano cannery company town
baseball beer dancing burlesque
manufactury refinery petrolasphaltchemicalpool rails
gastank smokestack waste
liberty victory jumboizing containerizing
community clutching sandymuddyoiled rubbishroad
to fairfieldbrownfield
and beyond
to pleasant prospect adventure utopia
sweating river

brdge at sunrise
(in 1916 the hanover street bridge, now vietnam veterans memorial bridge, over the middle branch of the patapsco, replaced the long bridge between light street and fairfield)

precincts belts boroughs

carotid arteries reaching
into mind
onto face
move with moon
feed sun oxygen iron metalion
wash waste
oceanland
waterrock
planktonfungi
towncounty
harborfarm
portindustry
urbanrural
tidal rivers into cityorganic
through talltufted reeds
winds piping away

middle branch at sunrise
(in 1918 areas west and south of middle branch and around curtis bay, and immediately-surrounding suburbs west, north, and east were annexed in the interest of commerce: port control and size matters)

home sweating

just
laws made
taxes paid
more humane
more effective
wages salaries earned
votes cast
more informed
more moral
public served
children raised
influence made
knowledge gained
corruption reduced
influence weighed
work respected
viciousness wounded
because

lyceum at sunrise
(in 1913 female garment workers marched from the labor lyceum at 1203 east baltimore street, and boarded a train to washington dc to participate in the woman’s suffrage procession)

once and future plunderbund

trade laws enrich rich
commercial conspiracies menace from a twilight zone in nation-state
unreasonable campaign contributions corrupt
overissues of stocks and bonds suppress legitimate investment
favored banks exploit
wage earners rights regarded as restraints
special privilege interests absorb and waste natural resources
impure foods compromise health
imperialism experiments abandon values
special interests misuse delegated power usurp government
begin to begin to begin again

armory at sunrise
(the 1912 democratic convention was held at the fifth regiment armory on bolton and preston streets and adopted a progressive platform)