Category: politics

going to see sam

order of the star-spangled banner america
america bred degradation
tubs of blood ripped plug butts rattling america
america shall rule with secret pig blood
the america rhetor tweets himself unparanoid unthreatened unpatriotic unsecret unprotesting
america great again america
the brave wannabe all thumbs combs the drama constantly

lexington market at sunrise
(lexington market was one of several locations where deadly, premeditated political gang violence was waged in 1856)

will be

armed badged indemnified marshalled and reported
only to know nothing.
one day to learn
integrity communication community and urgency

bank street at sunrise
(the police force was authorized by the state legislature to succeed constables and night watchmen in 1853 but subsequently co-opted by the know-nothing party—the eastern district station on bank street predated the legislation)

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)

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)

in the land of land jobbers

in the expensive dirty muddy town
every prayer and petition for the kings majesty
was henceforth omitted.
thoughts turned to france.
small pox was precluded and five million dollars emitted.
they wondered whether the people would eat bread or drink whiskey.
royal portraits were hung upside down.
slaves and convicts worked
while idle sons lived like princes betting on horses, cocks and cards.
general washington
was provided with whatever he may want wherever he may be.
until our unhappy differences are ended

liberty at sunrise
(the continental congress met in baltimore for three months in 1776 and 1777 at a house on baltimore and liberty streets while philadelphia was under threat of british invasion)

mary katherine goddard

freshest advices both foreign and domestic
progress of the enemy
intelligence from europe
details of naval engagements
received by last nights mail
and from vessels arrived
reported to the public of baltimore-town.
true stories
current prices
newly open, to be sold, lost, letters left
from the woman at the printing office on market street across from the coffee house
who also delivered the mail through insurrection and war.
only to be dismissed 
brand new corrupt government.
with ingratitude incivility injustice beyond description

market place at sunrise
(baltimore town’s first newspaper, started in 1773 on market street, was co-edited by ms. goddard)

in steigers meadow

dispense justice
promote virtue
guarantee harmony
preserve the law
respect property and neighbors
replace ignorance and superstition with knowledge of right and wrong.
inspect flour
cull staves and shingles
measure grain
weigh hay and cord wood.
receive specified fees

courthouse at sunrise
(the baltimore county seat was moved from joppa to baltimore town in 1768 and a courthouse was commissioned to be built on a bluff overlooking jones falls)

le grand dérangement

people are
the land
trees
and animals.
brooks and babin and alexander
denys and doiron and brown
glode and gauterot and oliver.
refugees scatter in place and time
from land claimed by princes.
who would not annihilate can help build an alliance

alley at sunrise
(in the mid-1750s acadians fleeing british persecution left nova scotia and re-settled in colonies to the south, many around what became known as french alley)

to the lords of trade

people had plantations on the water
for the convenience of trade
until it pleased god to increase them
so they would build more close and live in towns.
sixty acres of john flemings farm
with respect to trade
might soon become a flourishing place

site of farmhouse at sunrise
(baltimore town, established in 1729, was surveyed in 1730 and divided into 60 lots around the fleming farmhouse near baltimore and lombard streets)