No Standing Zone

 Images do not necessarily reflect a religious endorsement; identity or affiliation. 

 Use caution when evaluating prayer.

2012

On the verge of a New Year; here in the Western Hemisphere; 1 lays bare:

 Life is a dance, where balance is not tangential, but a skill of requisite consequence. 

 We are led to choice; again and again.

  Will we ride in style?

or sing praises

or seek escape?

Obeythoven

Monkey Business

There are [of course] a range of psychological "tests." Recently, I was asked: "When you are feeling good/happy which animal do you most feel like/relate to?"

In April of 2011, I was filmed; being myself, along the Hudson River in  Saugerties, NY:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bDrgFUSUbg&feature=g-upl&context=G2cf5ac1AUAAAAAAAAAA

Proof positive re: my answer to the question above: A chimpanzee.

Political Heights

 On a clear day, the Party apparatus is not an escape route

 but a place to suspend my dis-belief;

 high enough to see through Democracy's maze.

 On the right;

 I bow to the Left's attempts

 stacking the noose

for Lady Liberty's neck. 

 Mahatma Gandhi: Stay with me; help me be the Change.

Transparency

Fruits of Whose Labor?

Before the frost

Joseph hired two persimmon-pickers

While they climbed,

Joseph supervised

and counted his persimmon-profits.

Taking Aim

Spray-painted : Greed

Breakfast

Breakfast of BKLYN champions.

Construction Crew

                                     

                       there was enough space to leave room for my curiosity.

a gust of wind has angled the gates; while Our flag does not wave; our Brooklyn soil shifts.

a boy steps toward his world:  Construction Ahead.  Where is his hard-hat?  The future is a risk.

Graffiti Gravitas

                                 Somerville, Massachusetts.  Ride Safely.
                                                                         Helmets aren't optional.

Bike Occupation

Q line en route to Manhattan.  Weekend.

Occupying Brooklyn

Shot dead

Pistol to the head

Etched

sketched

Saw it first

in a book.

 Remember them?

Battle hymn of the Republic

marching

patriots

patriotism

parading

 ‘round

Some, cloaked in Christianity

others cling to Talmudic takes

Allah is one mentality.

Beyond the heroine’s grave

The hero’s heart

Our true majesty

Returning, I remembered

that

wanting

wasn’t necessarily

a measure of greed

And helped myself

to humankind’s

infinite knowing

and peaceful

Truth

Strength and courage

my sister

brother

Be brave.

Godspeed.

 Freedom saves.

A bird's life.

Life changes fast.

Life changes in the instant.  [Joan Didion: The Year of Magical Thinking]

So too, a bird’s trajectory; its intended destination —what we humans know and define as ETA [estimated time of arrival].

We are quite accustomed; reconciled to knowing when —except when we are pulled away from the predictable gamesmanship of our mornings — Bright and clear; translucent as toast.

In that moment of “change” I maneuvered the melting butter on a piece of 12-grain with a New West knife; poured a calorie conscious concoction of Florida’s Natural and Simply Grapefruit; bowed my head to give thanks for all that was before me when the storm door’s THUD  interrupted my flow.

Without hesitation’s perilous possibility, I rushed to the source of the sound and found the bird — sideways —clawed feet exposed; breathing —in what appeared to be a panicked rhythm.

My heartbeat quickened; remembering a lesson from summering lakeside in Pennsylvania:  “Never pick up a bird without a barrier between your skin and its feathers.” 

With a cocktail napkin I turned the bird upright.  Motionless, save for the evidence it supplied of still being alive —chest pounding. 

“C’mon now — you’re alright.  Get your bearings; then fly,” I said, hopefully; prayerfully.

More than ten minutes but fewer than fifteen is how long the bird needed to regain its composure.  I went to the refrigerator thinking it required some bread [for strength].   When I returned to serve it some breakfast; it was gone.

The Ambition Bird [excerpts][Anne Sexton]

The bird wants to be dropped

From a high place like Tallahatchie Bridge.

He wants to fly into the hand of Michelangelo

And come out painted on a ceiling.

He wants to take bread and wine

And bring forth a man happily floating in the Carribean.

He wants to take leave among strangers

Passing out bits of his heart like hors d’oeuvres.

Blue Paint Special

Lady Liberty doin' some overtime in Brooklyn Heights.  What would the French think? [hint: she [Lady Liberty] was a gift].  Yes, of course I'm a Liberty fan.  Basketball; inalienable rights --- the whole she-bang.

Drifter

Hook,  caressing a starfish [discovered @ Fort Tilden, NY]
 [squared driftwood serves as display platform [origin:Unknown].

anne sexton can help us; 

so can emily dickinson; 

sylvia plath; nikki giovanni; audre lorde; joan didion. 

some were consumed.
others
remain
in the belly of my hunger
for meaning.

Sister outsider 

here is my hand

the Other 

lost @ sea

Taxonomies

tell us where to go when our sense of direction numbs

Anesthetized 

My voice

aided by a mouthful

media access
" free " wifi

Observer; shore-line shadows
What say you?

Head of the Charles

The boiler room

Is where I sat

That day we

Kept steady; pulling full pressure

With you @ stroke

Our bow soon took

Wellesley

MIT

Smith

And we’ll move on

Lives away from these

Awesome as we are;

For we have wagered much

to claim our simple struggle.

Liberty shall come to the unassuming oar.

Signaling her fatigue

@ our refusal to open up

Before us bore life

With her flow

 the Connecticut.

Disruption.

For: CM

on my way --- it's a Go.

i won't stop
time
to
Disrupt.

LinkedIn;
We are
Saint Petersburg
Moscow
Montreal
Boston
Bangalore
Tel Aviv

Can U C Me?

red lights
mean
pause;
stop;
slow-down

Oh say
can u c

Isn't it True?
don't we need
another Star?

9.11.01

Merely a door.

Go Upright

through it.

Now

remembering

never

forgetting.

   [a 10 word poem recognizing the 10th Anniversary of New York City's resilience and resoluteness]

Linked.

I

Am

                           because u r.

Spiff [ed] Up

The Nat Sherman family has been providing fans of tobacco [in all its forms] a place to dwell  and indulge amidst mid-town Manhattan's  steady-stream of coniousseurs and the merely curious since 1930.

Some, prefer a bowl of tobacco in a lit pipe @ Nat's members-only Johnson Room [see gentleman on right].  Others, sit confidently; reliant on the tried-and-true [see gentleman on left]:

                                                       
                              Others, prefer a smoke of 'solitude.'

Standing watch; vigilant of tobacco's value --- its medicinal; sociological; anthropological dimensions @ Nat Sherman's flaghip retail location, a member of the Tribe invites and welcomes --- offering; summoning [especially on Wednesdays @ 4:00 PM]:

                                 When 
        do you plan on getting Spiff[ed] Up?