New Poem in Otoliths (53)

New, longish poem up in Otoliths 53. Many thanks to Mark Young.

Here is Otoliths 53 in its entirety. And in print.

P.S. Listen to Ode On Waves on mp3.

The Adelphia House

For the duration of the mid-Aughts, Mike Land lived at the Adelphia House at 13th and Chestnut, here shown. The point of interest: what Mike was exposed to was a neighborhood which had no specific name; was, in fact, the absolute center of Center City Philadelphia. The center-of-the-center vibe was interesting: Mike's window looked down, from the seventh floor, at Chestnut Street; and what he would see, even at one, two, or three in the morning, was a constant fracas. Directly across the street was the liquor store from 1488; a few blocks away was Woody's, Philly's el primo gay bar, where the Free School pack would sometimes hang out. Yet Mike's window square was about a neighborhood and an intersection that never slept. Logan Square was relatively quiet at night, as was West Philadelphia. It is from the Adelphia House (and Logan Square) that we planned Free School moves like Poetry Incarnation '05, and the various shows we did at the Highwire Gallery. Incidentally, the Highwire Gallery, on Cherry Street between Broad and 13th Street, a few blocks from Mike (and in a neighborhood which, as of '19, has been partially re-zoned), was another center-of-the-center edifice, even as the vibe was slightly less of a fracas than the Adelphia House. By Cherry Street, Broad is turning into North Broad; yet from the Gilbert Building steps, the view of Philadelphia City Hall was stunning. From the Adelphia House windows, which faced south, no dice. What Mike had going, at the center-of-the-center, which Mary & I did not, is the sense of Philadelphia as a great raging beast, constantly churning, constantly in motion; and Mike's life at the time was a ricochet of the same energies.

P.F.S. Post

Another sense of Philly Free School Post becoming more solid. 

Eight Months in West Philly

Over the course of the Aughts, especially in the concentrated periods of 2002-2003 and 2007, and through my relationship with Mary Harju, I probably spent about eight months living in West Philadelphia. Mary probably spent about a year living in Logan Square right back. I have a sense of pride about this now: more territory for both of us to take, and conquer. Logan Square and West Philly are also an interesting contrast: the rustic (West Philly) against the newfangled, ruggedness versus sleekness, weathered wood & green yards balanced by a perfect view of an exquisite skyline. Even as our dramas unfolded both within and between the two neighborhoods, too.

P.S. Also worth noting: I spent the fall 2012 semester teaching two sections of first-year writing at the University of the Sciences in West Philly. I made the Green Line Cafe at 43rd and Baltimore my office!

The Skaters: #1?

In 2009, after having known Abby Heller-Burnham, over a long period of time and in many capacities, I began to immerse myself in her work. Two paintings distinguished themselves instantly as sublime masterpieces: The Skaters and The Lost Twins. Oddly enough, I had seen Abs begin The Skaters while she lived with Mary in West Philly in the early Aughts. Ten years later, it seems clear to me, for me: The Skaters gets the nod over The Lost Twins as Abby's #1. The simple reason is that The Skaters creates its own, self-circumscribed, self-sufficient, visionary universe, beyond moves that clearly hearken back to David and Ingres, and beyond a need to create double, triple, and quadruple narratives.

Tears in the Fence 60

The continuation of the Apparition Poem series, past the books Apparition Poems and Cheltenham, gave rise to this 2014 page in UK print journal Tears in the Fence. The poems here showed up in A Dozen Leaking Buckets and A Dozen Loose Wires, respectively.

Twelve Mimes and Mirrors: A Chapbook: Funtime Press

This is the 2019, Funtime Press edition of Twelve Mimes and Mirrors: A Chapbook.