J uptwn in the early morning

J uptwn in the early morning

tired from little sleep
& large exertion.

it's been snowing
since after midnight.
streets are browns & greys.
sky & air are white.
floor of the train is wet.
road is wet.
bridge is wet & whitened.

the pedestrian path
has been plowed.

any landmark or building
is a shadow of itself
out the window

george washington smiles
in grim determination

somewhere out there in the snow

trashtrucks push plows

follow

following
falling
following thru
incomprehensible
layer of light.

followed by
the followed by
the followed

further
further light plays
crosst skin or wind

all flickers
another vessel passes
all layers
of angles of interruptions
& misdirections
in the light

fall lowing
light
refraction & descent
fall low wing.

no thing warm

an M arrives.
it's 19 degrees.
windy to the bones.

i dress in many layers.
two scarves, a wool
yugoslav military hat
with earflaps.

it's so clear
it's so cold.

it's recognizable
to george washington
at valley forge
wrapped in his blanket
on his horse.

up up up
the up
the sun on
my disrobed noggin
& neck of back
is a highlight
for the day.

all lines are clear
in the well-lit cold.

clouds from smokestacks
give forth great effort
before they dissipate
into the clear
of all the weather

down down
into the labyrinth
of dark
where no thing warm
shines
on my neck.

up over

the bridge is a misty day
the grey is how
water dissipates light.

rush hour is a steady speed
on its way.
grey is the color of water
in the bay.
sky in the water.

traffic moves crisply
droplets, vapors
diffract & scrub sight

mist plays easy
as it grows
amoebically into larger
& larger drops
on the window
in the wind.

another timely arrival

here we go
out the tunnel
into the out
up the up

see me late afternoon sky
see me ride this locomotive up

across a small part of sky
a look at all the rest
of what climbs the sky
bldgs, bridges & smokestacks

a cold river reflects a cold sky
the sun sinks downriver
out off toward jersey

brooklyn calls the bridge
down to its burly bosom

cycles pass, walkers, cars
train in the other direction
back to brooklyn.

lament the light

M train showed
just as i got up the steps.

it's a nice sunny ride
the light drifts in
window-shaped patches
crosst the floor
& warms my face
a moment afore we turn
the curve & the incline
is up & the patches of light
are further away
moving with trainsway
interrupted & re-translated
by angles of architecture.
interrupted by ironwork
& the downswing.
many things race by
stay in the same place
dance flickering patterns
of light & dark
on the filthy floor.
dwn dwn dwn
lament the light.

dear thomas who?

are you related to the doctor?
or is this moniker more
metaphorical?
have i forgot who you are?
[did i ever know?]
i have forgot who you are

full-fledged train

with all its feathers
a-here we go

over the bridge.
an elevated road
over & above
up & away

far & away
above the fray

higher even
than george washington
on his tall pony

taller than streets
& signs & lights & time
it takes to crawl
with gravity down.

glitters on the rivers
different coloers
of different kinds
of lights.

colds & warms
reds & greens
& lost way blues.

over a bridge
the materials of

the pathways pass by
if yr not moving
then evrything else is

if evrything stands still
why am i sinking?

trainwheels tumble
& shine down
the incline

hew & call
fire & fall
dwn dwn dwn
into a place to exit
silver snake
into the gloom
of night punctuated
by these dashing colors.

a day of gd rains

days of rain

bridge under an opening sky

here & there
winter daylight
cuts through
the over cast

days of rains

30 degrees colder
& we'd have snow.



roll oh roll oh roll
ah roll ahlong
along to roll
i long to roll along

a powerful treat
a treastise on confusion
a coastal switch
take me to yr feeder
i'd like a trough o me own
all crawling thru
all calling true

off the on

on & on

up the incline
a grey day
evrything moves
normal speed.

i brought an umbrella.
it stick out o my bag
train passes other way.
shadows rattle & shudder.

train brakes
as it's dwn now.

crane on a barges matches angles
of the outstretched arm
of the too-quiet madman
who ocunts to himself
on the other hand
saying each syllable
under his breath.

down the incline
dwn dwn dwn

find me what lies
there at the base
of this rainbow

the loud
the quiet
the mad
the violent
the furtive
the animate

a thing to say
twd the getting there
too bad to be
too slow

out of the darkness

up the incline
away home
the clank & shudder
in a cooling cloudy
afternoon.

up & up
& over
up & up


there's a level spot
an apex
an acme of up
a gravitational pause

& it pulls slowly down
the tracks

down

sun sets into dark

the day is beautiful.
dont need to close yr coat
or earmuffs.

tonight's low is forecast
at 47 degrees.
luxurious.

i'm still wearing long johns
b.c i wore them
the last sevral days
in these very pants.

gd for the deep freeze
of days ago.

slow roll turn the dogleg
from broadway to bridge.
pass another train.

sun sets south. west.
haze over late afternoon city.
skyline cuts black against
jersey's sky beyond.

another train passes.
color of the lights compliments
the color of water
the color of sky reflected.

trees of skeletals
of east river
park cut lines
another train passes.

the descent
sun lights bricks
the sky is
light against cold
into what lies under dark
into dark

leaves fly a spiral library in an unlettered sky.

words, words. how easily they can destroy. words, words. how ?
words, words. how easily the can follow words. words, words.
words, words. 1/2 price sale just in time for time. words, words.
halfoff words to stand in for unwritten words. how easily they
may be substituted. word for word. words, words. how they say
how to build. a low-cost library. words, words. layers upon
layers upon. layers upon. layers upon. words, words. in for
words. information. indication. separation. combination.
words, words. how easily they mention. how easily they make.
how easily they mistake. words, words. how easily words are made.
palimpset comprised of gathered leaves laid together. words.
words, words. overwritten. underwritten. subtext. pretext.
overwritten. underwritten. context. contact. supertext. words,
words, words, words. names that define. sounds that mean. words.
sounds that mean words. words that mean sounds. words, words.
how? how easily do they destroy? how easily do they create?
how easily do they confuse? fragile pressed leaves in cracking
bindings. skins that hold thoughts in. time is laid in lines
followed by eyes like words across these. words, words, words.
how? how easily the eyes recognize the lay of the lines. words.
who or why or how? words? when? what? how? words, words. how?
paperbound. overwritten. underwoven. palimpsest. sins with skins
with words within. words, words. how easily they stray/
words, words. how easily they say riddle ghose renaissance.
original leaves in verso. bound bridges braided together. words
words, words. leaves in veins bound in skins that hold thoughts
in. words, words. system of sliding eyes for meaning across
sections of thought. words, words. leaves bound in trees.
ink still wet. leaves in trees drip dry. leaves cut down
& bound. leatherbound. weatherbound. paperbound. waterbound.
featherbound. leafbound. skybound. words, words, words, words.
how easily they sail. fail. tail. leaves blown by wind.
wound by sound. covers of lights. leaves blown by wind. words
bound for eyes or hearts or veins or pains or leaves turned
by hands. words, words. leaves blown by wind sail meaning
crosst an unlettered sky. leaves blown by wind form a swirling library
like a lexical garden. leaves blown in a spiral library
on shelves of birds. words, words. leaves blown in a spiral
library on shelves of birds in an unlettered sky. words, words.
leaves in a muslin bag bound with a bit of silk string.
words, words. freed from a prison by a bell to fly. words, words.
leaves blown in a spiral library on shelves of birds in an un-
lettered sky. words, words. how easily they fly. words, words.
leaves drip from trees & color puddles exciting things. words
drop colors that mean well. words, words. leaves fly
a spiral library on shelves of birds in an unlettered sky. words
mixtures of words form species of leaves. words, words, words.
a beauty made by words. bound in leathery leaves. pressed to-
gether in volumes of smooth skies. words, words. how easily
words, words. how easily they change. how easily they move.
how easily they fly. leaves blown by wind. leaves fly
a spiral library on shelves of birds in an unlettered sky.
words in palimpsest over simpler leaves scraped from ancient trees.
words in palimpsest inscribed between the lines of an unknown
tongue. words, words. leaves blown by wind in spiral libraries
on shelves of birds in an unlettered sky. leaves fly a spiral
library on shelves of birds in an unlettered sky.

completely dark by now

up the bridge.

what you can see
out the window
is the lights of things.

if you shade yr eyes
you can see
shapes of things in the night.

it's cold out there.

colder still.
these teens cut thru
such as shoes & coats
& multiple multicolored scarves
& extra sweaters
& the long cold night

what's out there?

what's out there
is driven by confusion.

the cold of needles & knives

enter a new year
the days, they claim,
are getting longer.
it must be hell to work a job
that keeps you in
all the sun's waking winter hours.

happy becomes necessity
& what then?

waiting on an elevated platform
in 17 degree weather
is the cold of knives & needles.

sun sets in a west
that seems more south
oranges & reds
burn deep to the horizon
on stratus clouds.

faroff bridges mark angles
the east river & bay beyond
are the cold color
of the highways & sky.
time without clouds
makes cold deeper.

train slants down'ard
bldgs cut black icy silhouettes
against the sinking sky.
the cold of knives & needles
cuts shapes out of an icy sky.

bricks hold tighter together
& if they were struck
by a wrecking ball
they'd explode
in cold.

reminiscent of a lingering past

reminiscent of a lingering past
further dwn the pike
the train where the sun shines in
warmer than late
an EMT with an apparently snappy dog
both in vests
diagnoses a man
with a chest pain

-do you need medical attention?
-no
-might be the coffee. what'd you eat? dont worry i'm also an EMT

he is serious & full of focus
solid
but of what?

an old man tries to pet his dachsund.
the EMT jerks it away

-no no no

that focus.
the EMT turns back to the man

-you pulled a muscle

the man in pain
is middle age, sketchy black moustache
an unhappy cast to his pained face
i think the EMT is keeping his ye on me
keeping my eye on him.

i dont mind a cellphone conversation in spanish
i never even rally lookt
at the overly stylish girls
with nice boots
standing in front of me.

rhythm in the kitchen

i made this flyer for the hell's kitchen cultural center's upcoming event. attend. check it out. click the pick to travel to hell's kitchen.