Christmas in New York/the baby's here and we are looking out nto a new horizon

• We reach for the pills,they are in a glass bowl on the stove/a bug is imprinted in cut glass on the bottom. You take five and I take five/they're low-grade so we will just sleep more soundly/probably just hear the phone ring in the parlor. We haven't gone to this extent ever/breakfast dishes still in the sink/we seem to be out of hope/a great fear hounds us/we've run this course before/the account reads .00 and the children are all on their feet/we are in every one's way/our language has been reduced to drivel. When the end of O'Bama's term we will have crossed over/we want to let go/but Melisa is having a baby in the Spring and our eighth grandchild is on its' way/we will be there with bells on and a song in our hearts/then we'll see.

HOW LONG DO WE HAVE TO WAIT for Christmas

This semester has been complicated by our traveling in space/It tries our nerves to succumb to the rigors of the twenty-first/damn we have been to the other side of reality once too often/the grandchildren have checked in/Nathan especially takes care of us. His sweet nature exhibits the best of both his parents. We kiss our girl Indiana Capri and she knows exactly who we are/Ahdy shyly looks back at us and pretends that he is a new kid on the block/this princess Siena knows when we need attention/she calls with loving concern/Tomorrow is Elizabeth Rose's birthday/she has almost found herself/and she is not ten yet/Our darling Gabrielle e-mails in the knick of time,"Call me, I need to touch base."In Borough Park a miracle baby is born,our Ariella Isabel/she is a young warrior/she has the baton/and knows the dove's language/the poems/the songs/we will carry her to Mecca/wrapped in a Palestinian scarf/her Jewish core can stop a million year war. I love the life/the street/the fight/the grand granjetes'But don't believe that this huge trial I've been in/there are no answers/no judgements/

The train is here/but we are not ready/been a long time since we took this highway

• From the time we left the area till now there have been no guarantees/we have learned everything as we have gone along/what you didn't know/I did/and vice versa/ This process has worked/there are individual signs of complete accomplishment. Your work adorns the homes of the people who have found it necessary to collect it. We by inference/ are also hanging along with the paintings. This alone has been a perfect trip.

The Fall creeps in like a mother lion/we wait for an opportunity to socialize about art

• We return to the Bronx and try to get things rolling. We submit our work for publication and a record rejection comes flying back. We maintain a kind of status quo/ you get out to paint/I ruminate/we meet at a certain point in time.

Close the door on unanswered questions/be swift and courteous

• 
  
  The show has come to an end. The last poppy dry on the vine. I am rattled /my love is overflowing and the geraniums are frosting up in these cool Adirondack seasons. We have been to the western tip of New York for a get-together with old friends. We sit in a cafe and drink pina colada/rap about the ole days. You were so beautiful to bring me to this reunion. The dog runs
  

  on

  the beach and we lay in each other's arms and pray for the grandchildren .

CNN/NPR/BMI/ABC/CBS/lET'S HAVE A PARTY

1. Did you say That I WRITE TO HEAR MYSELF THINK/THERE is no other way at this point/a woman calls from another time/she remembers us/ how can the universe be turning at this phenomenal pace that all the minds are thinking and creating ideas which meet at one point. This point of recognition burns to be identified. THE rest remains deep secret.

We are in unchartered territory/ there is no cushion holding us up/we never planned anything

• I was a young girl running in the street/standing on lines for auditions/ I lived with very little until I hooked up with Steve. He offered me eternal love/ a kind of comfort which created my interior strength/ This program has no design/it's self-appropriated/ For forty years I have listened to my own heart/to the birds/watched the grass grow and developed a system of survival.

We are leaving for awhile/the hood oven from the restaurant downstairs has begun its days duty

• FOR A LONG TIME NOW IT HAS BEEN DIFFICULT FOR US TO RELATE TO THE next door neighbors. They leave little notes under our door and bring over cakes and pies in the evening. We continue to go about our business,never thanking them or honoring their advances. they both work at the

  hospital around the corner.

I see the ducks on the water/you held my arm and told me secrets about the children's longings

1. 
   
   We crawled to Taos again/ The poets were waiting/ It's as if they never left the stage area. They wanted me to stay in town d=for a special performance of the first and third manuscripts/ I
   

   
   

   declined saying that it 's harvest time upstate and that the apples were waiting for us.

this proud gram wishes to leave the state/it is over the top that which i TAKE MY WAGON AND HITCH IT RIGHT TO A STAR

• The camp sits back from the lake. The rolli

  ng hill in front of the cabin and trailer are made for dreaming. I SET THE PICNIC TABLES FOR SIX AND CLIMB INTO THE LOFT FOR a long nap. The children will be finishing up their chores in about an hour and the roast chicken has only to sit in its' juices.

Go get um tiger/this narrow view I take to the grave/whose I ask

Mama's got a brand new pair of roller blades/time to prepare /the last lap/fearless as the mountain lion creeping up the wall/the bear in the woods who Elizabeth surprised/ and my darling Steve full of surprises/imagination and the will to eat cereal. One daY WE SHALL ALL GO HOME/ WITH BROILERS AND potaoe chips/pickles and

traveling through space and time/I really can't pinpoint when I've been this happy

The money arrived on time. We pay the taxes and begin to re-organize ourselves for another sale of art. The pump prices are back up/ food is soaring and the wolf tears at our son's door. This confusion leads to distention of my limbs and a human desire to consume. New York has been a jumping off place/the fine liberal folk have understood at least that we suffer a general malaise when it comes to survival in art/their hearts go out to us. It's jump/dance/kick and holler.

a splendid morning for a hike up the mountain/iT IS TIME TO GO BACK TO THE CITY/the rain stopped/all the children have checked in today/FATHER'S day

• Just a twenty dollar party/ you bring the beer/ we sit in the underbelly of this whale/crying to

  get out/

JUNE 18/tHE North COUNTRY/ TGHE WOlD's getting colder/ I did it for the money

1. I WANT IT TO WORK/FOR ME TO CONTINUE DOING THE WORK/to embrace life like a birthday party/to fall out at night without a care in the world/ to step it up/two-step/do the frugal thing/ but something is creating discord/a loose wire in the system/a short-circuit/a poet lives inside me/and it hurts.....

where the KUDSU VINES hang like / a flashback / 1977 monsterslike back /10709

• GRADY HELPED US PUT IN A WINDOW/SO THE MORNING LIGHT COULD SHINE /a glass blower lived down the road / we4 gave Grady $5.00 for rent/ and then while feeding his dog /he must have had a heart attack/ fell and hit his head on a plow near the smoke house/he died

WHERE AREYOU going my ancient lover/ eyes and arms reach out to me

• the sign was you / who pushed the stick / through the fence /standing offence / a butterfly taps a

  gainst the window /we do the pony / somewhere between the blues and hip-hop/

When the paint flows/let it go / we won't give up / and the world will not give in to us

• THERE'LL BE NO DINNER TONIGHT / OR TOMORROW /JUST MEMORIES of babies being born /and growing/ like tadpoles /my idea/ was to let each of the children know what I know/ then/ let them go

We are in the Adirondack Mountains/ we love the acquired possessions / the art /the memories

• IT'S A COUNTRY QUIET /a bride / a bird's chorus /a buzz of metal chatter

1990/jot on a piece of notebook paper

• Classism /my shoes /hair/nails /skin /fingers / hard yellow broken /torn

WATKINSVILLE,Ga. /we live in a slave shack/one room /with wild roses wrapping around /a stone fireplace /one one year Steve paints in an old barn

• Now that Grady's dead/ we'll pay you a dollar a month to clean his gravesite / Steve and Francy/you'll get a half gallon of buttermilk to wash the holiday dishes and make mama's bed. Free rent/our rent had been five dollars..

early WHITEHALL/ CARDS HAS BEWEN A FOCUS /DISTRACTION FOR ME

• solitaire /flip card /spread seven /staCK / RESTACK /SLIDE THE ACES /FLIP T

  HREE /STACK /SLIDE ACE UP.......

Bayside/I ACCOMPANY MY HUSBAND TO WORK

1. Cemetary/I am sitting on a brown plastic pillow / scattered are rusty nails / THE DOOR TO THIS STONE MASALEUM /HAS BEEN OPENED BY VANDALS / STONE COLUMNS REACH UP /YELLOW FRUITY FLOWERS BETWEEN THE GRAVES / Here the living are enhanced by the dead / SOME of the earth is spongy / a fresh gravesite /my namesake /Fanny/ an unmarked mauseleum / THE BUDDING / the spring /NEW YORK JEWS /IVY/violets/roses /grown over earth /rest in peace/fallen markers/ sticks and twigs /I RUN THROUGH the fallen markers trey to get lost in the quiet /and away from ROBERT THE GUY WHO CARE FOR THE PLACE /he plays old rock'n roll songs on an old boonbox.......

year 2000 /Pablo decides to move back to New York but it will take a few years

• 
  
  Our eldest son visaits / his financial vision / seers / the stubble of our stumbling dilema / He feeds us rice / in white Chinese restaurant / He is good / and strong / We have given him the right recipe for good living / He appreciated this/ with a simple ''Thank-you''
  

around 2004 /just a note to myself / after fishing at the bay

THE allusiona IS REAL / and reality is the allusion

There is a condemned house in the back / a mountain lion clims the wall / I CLIMBED THE HILL TO GET SOME IRIS

1. old issues appear like lost shoes

This Land Is your land / 9/11 / I heard the first boom and the second one two

mY CIG SPARKS AT 2am /I SEE IT THERE /A PYROTECHNIC SKY / kazalacstan / ubeckestan / turmenistan /tan /tan /tan America writhes/IRAQ ONE million dead / now KABUL / kandahar / a cave with the big KAHUNA / FRONT MIKE /TIMEX WATCH / A HUMANITARIAN STRIKE /ECONOMIC PLY / TO BUY MORE FIBEROPTICS / /ANTIBIOTICS /RAMADAN /CARROT AND STICK / tOMAHAWK Mssiles / we are all homeless / sleeping at the entrance to the towers / Who will hold the firefighters hands now / that the smoke has cleared

FALLEN OFF Battleground /my epic poem /Roy and Bessie

1. Three times a year they slaughter a pig / drunk with meat they warap three small parcels of fatback for the neighbors.

1995 /DAY OF GIBERTO SALE /TO JERRY /A PAINTING MADE IN MEXICO cITY

1. tHE SETTING UP /THE TEARING DOWN / IT'S A REGULAR THING / iN IT'S WAY /it's formal /there is large play going on all night on the street /this calm won't last / the sound of summer on the wane / Heah for this lofe / Ohm Shanti / I CAN ONLY DREAM OF CHARGING UP mOTT. street / feet torn / looking deeply into the blue of your eyes / you looking back into you

   r own soul......

2003 / an old railroad town 25 miles from the nearest big town supermarket

1. We sold the house /bought Whitehall /unpacked the belongings / took the train to the city / took the train back upstate / I am still fighting the same demons I fought last year....

baby girl visits from Manhattan / DON'T FORGET TO MINIMIZE ,SHE SAYS

• We sit on the stoop of an abandoned apartment building. The sun is setting over the Hudson River. We want to go in to the building but we are waiting for dad to finish up . He has been painting most of the day. We taLK IN SOFT VOICES / OUR HAIR IS JOSTLED AND WE HAVE NOT EATEN ALL DAY. It is 1979 and you want to ride your bigwheel.

BUCKLE up America /wE'RE IN WAR

• tHE COWS GONE IN TO EAT ........yOU PAINTING OUTDOORS/ten below zero / powder puff blue sky/ far from the city clang /mamas sittin' on the train / pistol whipped children /a cloud passes over ball of sun /snow on top of the mountain / the wild crow caws / we/whipped against the pines....

SONG oF sARA /POEM IN PROGRESS .STARTED 2006

• two withdrawing on thew M103-----aRE YOU COMING HOME WITH ME -I guess so /If you don't talk to those men / Where are we getting off I don't want to buy you those earings /You just use me for a place to sleep /Both faces are swollen /They are screaming /Their tone is getting people sitting around them annoyed /Thank-you for that /yOU JUST LOVE ME FOR MY MY MONEY/yOU THINK THAT i WILL Buy you anything you want /Do I have to but those earings ?I am not going to buy you anything if you don't behave. WHO PAID FOR THE DRINKS AT THAT BAR /i PAY FOR EVERYTHING i OWN YOU /WILL you come home with me / If you don't attract attention when we go in /I'll stay with you / I love you Sara /iN cHINATOWN DO YOU WANT TO GET OFF /i know where they have those earings / Are you coming home with me /dO YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHERE WE'RE GOING IN cHINATOWN /sHE KEPT HER EYES CLOSED A LOT /hE WAS BALD WITH A LONG PONYTAIL..

glens falls ,N.Y. , supermarket ;2008

• A BLACK WOMAN IS GETTING IN TO CAR;HER JAW IS SQUARED ; I nod;she nods ,It is O.k. that I AM NOT PREDJUDICED /AS ALWAYS / SHE GIVES ME THE a.o.k.

sKIP'S WIFE ruth / has syphilis/she was repeatedly raped by her grandfather

• he didn't belong /and I can still feel the pain

wATKINSVILLE gA.,ON THE rOBINSON pLACE

• They said we've have to beak chickens in the factory / BATTEN THE HATCHES OR GET OUT OF TOWN......

New york or bust /we travel to the city with a packpack

1. AMADU /lUIMA /dialo /Mumiaplunger up the ass / a blood spot on the street /A BUTCHER KNIFE IN aMY'S HEART /AND A COLUMBUS GIRL PUSHED TO HER DEATH / ON THE TRACKS OF THE 6TRAIN /9CABBIES MURDERED /NO PARTITIONS FOR LIVERIES / eLIAN gonzalez saved by a dolphin /while his mother floated to death / and everyone's lookin' for one meaningful moment in New york--

early ny.....Mulberry Street /heavy rent

1. The discarded red/white striped unbrella / an unknown wad of spittle / my fingers ache to spend money

A HOMELESS FAMILY OF 6

• A Nnight through Hell Note;We didn't know /we couldn't know /no one could know /no one knew / There is a knock at the door /Yes,who's there /two travelors had heard of us /We thought you might be hungry----here's our left over pizza. in a blaze of smoke they started the car /smitty accepted the painting for the rebuilt axle and a pair of steel tipped books for the labor /We travel mon a sou8nd wave / a conviction /that through art we will survive

what fell off a night through hell in the hills

• the preacher put us up in a holiday inn /pablo and benny were cool /danny kept nursing / alo played / I CRIED IN THE BATHROOM /THis was it /you were finally scared /you knew that I was mad / buried deep in the jeep / under blankets /in the only working gas staion /was a countryscape / of the blueberry meadow / that painting was shining louder than any bell could ring / THIS WAS OUR SALVATION /our ticket to ride,,,,

leah's 40th yr. b'day poem

itty/you sis me sis /sister oh sister how we look /you with the big heart /the loved one /the robert /the bob /the gordon / and remember the smells /the sex smells /the orgasim of your body / thrusts of sex smells /they are good /smells /oh yeah /dad just kept forcing the bar of soap up me /those those smells / his first two wives /'n mom scared him yes /women smells scared him / no sex with dad /his trying to get his own smells out cause he was afraid /hated women smells /and his girls were going to know that /that he hated and feared women and their odors were dirty /came from dirty things /you did sister leah / can you know /oh can you forget/ can you forgive / the sickness that were were fed and almost destroyed us with on account of ignorance /definative shit / which blocked us up / made us contortionists which we share /fry an egg /try to feed anyone who comes to you cause they know the love you have to share /and take and give / only the slick shit for you lil' sis /birthday girl chipmonk /hopscotch /frail girl /fragile woman / pretty lady /sweetheart / darling mommy's little girl /francy sister who is plder like a teacher steve's sister who he loves more than life itself /and gives to in his heart for twenty-four years /and you should see steve today lil' sis aunt leah /aunt leah /aunt leah aunt leah da bea / da beeeeeee

WORLD PEACE IN A RESTLESS UNIVERSE

• SURVIVING THE CRUNCH /tHE MAN MAKES JOKES / aRE YOU SURE YOU NEED A TURKEY HE ASKS / LOOK AT THIS FROZEN PIZZA / LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE ALREADY TOOK A BITE OUT OF IT /MIND IS THE FIRST TO GO

early NY,W.B'way, the gong rings for justice

• and no one hears this city of strain /our job / selling paintings /Steve's vision /strong and specific / the one liners /the hypocrites / we are fighting the good fight /punch drunk /insulated like birds /our minimal joy / one meal a day /the sound in my ear/an endless sea of folks /carved and delicate /the chill of selling art on the street / a flag / a bell /wind blown seeds scattering pollen / we cannot give up /we cannot win/ we have made our bed and we are drowning and crying

A SETBACK /NO SALES / A HUMILIATION

MOSES DOESN'T CALL TODAY/WE KNOW THAT WE ARE CRAZY /mOSES'S HEART IS BROKEN /OUR TRIAL IS COMING / WE CAN NOT MAKE THE GRADE /THIS WAR HAS WORN US / WEARE DEPERATE AGAIN /STARTING OVER / THE POVERTY ABOUNDS /LET ME LOVE YOU WHILE YOUR HEART STILL BEATS /A BLUE WAVE OF NEVER ENDING WORRY

EARLY FISHING POEM /WHITEHALL

• MONK /FISH /BOY /JACKET / OVER HEAD /RAIN

EARLY FISHING POEM /WHITEHALL

MONK /FISH /BOY /JACKET / OVER HEAD /RAIN

The moma /or ouside selling paintings

At the film / you dream /you want me / we outdistance the cold

Art IS perfect in Inception /early n.y,,1999

Atthe library on 6th Ave. ,[jEFFERSON mARKET] /A SMUG LADY /GAME CALLING POWER / HER JOB /

Walking on the lOWER eASTSIDE

WHERE ARE THE JEWS / HIDING IN THE SHUELS

Self-Importance /More Than It's Cracked Up To Be

• 
  
  
  

  love swells and drowns a pale lemon /we sisters forced to act like brothers / no drum beats for anyone /your eye knows what my heart feels /this image ain't marble / I wore thebracelet til we sold it and you clutch the pillow when I'm not there..

free peoples on w.b'way ;Manhattan

Chicken sandwichBODEGA fREE PEOPLES' Poetry survives /My voice is louder than the dude ordering:chicken sandwich w/lettuce/tomato /he repeats ''LETTUCE AND TOMATO WITH BLUECHEES" I feel purpose /Steve is running late /Peoples'Poetry /his eyes sparkling at mORRIS AND lenny C ocCo BRUCEbut he's raking me down /Someone finally comes upstairs / a toilet run / must be the guy w/the sandwich /Now I'm debating with him whether the TV CAN BE ON /tHERE ARE NO POETS COMING BUT I AM WORKING HARD AT MY POEMS / eTHERIDGE ALWAYS SAID /LET POETRY BE ACCESIBLE / I AM BEING THREATENED BY THIS GUY / ''WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT' /he goes downstairs to the management.........KAHN SAYS THAT SINCE NO ONE SHOWED UP /THIS DUDE CAN WATCH THE TUBE...a VIDEO CHANNEL IS NOW BLASTING /THEN RIGHT BACK TO A PRISON FILM /oH etheridge /what do I DO.....

alo leaves whitehall and we cannot get the movie to play

I HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL /CRAWLED INTO SOME OTHER -------COMMWECIAL ART ,DOG PICTURE ,PAINTED WALL SOCKET-A CAT RENDERING OF BAKED IN DETAIL-SUN-DRIED AND MY HUSBAND STRUGGLES TO MAKE ART-WE FEAR TO THE MARROW--A BARREL OF FISH - NEXT MONTH'S RENT/THE CITY SLEEPS WHILE WE ACHE TO STAY UP/HIT THE STREET / SHOW OUR STUFF / NE YORK MAGIC /WE FIGHT TO WRITE AND PAINT /BREAK THE ICE ON THE ROCK THE FLEA FLIES /AMERICAN JAZZ IS THE FIRST TO GO/ON THE ROCK / 1997

surviving in the economic crunch

Slim pickins these days /i see the life going slowly/we enjoy taking walks up the Bronx hills and

Etheridge Knight and his ideas about poetry

There is a non-violent agreement that no egos will flair in the act of discussion....WE WILL THINK AND COMMIT TO the spoken word those ideas which press upon you...this is not to be taken lightly...this is important that you develop a voice which has meaning and understanding /begin by letting the world know your story / who you are and how you feel about the people closest to you /from the past and family who exist in your world... Believe in yourself /no one else will / probably you will grow in a predictible person / honesty can be masked in lies for the purpose of relating the piece. Poets lie; White lies for Dark Times -the title of bEN hARPER'S new album..Virgin records ----Be brave;stand up tall;speak your heart;there is nothing in art which is original; so go for it;