Urban Life
part II
mass transit —
an entire row of seats
to myself
Tanya McDonald
going through the tunnel:
the girl looks at her reflection —
so do I
Cor van den Heuvel
Bloomingdale’s credit card —
once it was the answer
to everything
Alexis Rotella
watching models walk the runway
the widow
applies more lipstick
Bob Brill
after seeing a gangster film
three boys leave the theater
swaggering
Bob Brill
He tells me
I talk funny —
kid from the Bronx.
Alexis Rotella
in the ghetto
masked sparrows
fighting
Alan Pizzarelli
the boarded-up church
SI N
G
FOR SALE
LeRoy Gorman
twice now
at the abandoned house
Jehovah Witness
Laurence Stacey
hard of hearing
he repeats the Lord's Prayer
for the entire plane
M. Franklyn Teaford
tent reviiiival!
the preacher's wife
in Prada
Carol Raisfeld
saint –
he dismisses worldliness
with bejeweled hands
Gautam Nadkarni
spreading my cards
the gypsy covers
a yawn
Laurence Stacey
St. Patrick's Day
eating my dinner
with green chopsticks
Mykel Board
our fire-engine crew
stops at the drive-in
for five-alarm-chili
Francis Masat
swarming like bees
around the car’s raised hood
Puerto Ricans
Alan Pizzarelli
health clinic...
deep in thought she chews
on a carrot
_kala
emergency room
nurses share weekend plans
over my chest
Robert Moyer
heart failure
the warm hand
of a nurse
Jörgen Johansson
hospital food –
between bites she talks
about dying
Susan Constable
late February
a statue of Houdini
encased in ice
Carlos Colón
the stiff glove
on the ground
giving me the finger
Jörgen Johansson
work day over
the porn stars
leave in separate cars
stephen a. peters
first sunroof day!
laser-guided
bird poop
M. Franklyn Teaford
family reunion —
everyone sits
with who they know
Laurence Stacey
over scotch
our uncle tells us the evils
of drinking
Gautam Nadkarni
April Fools
sending the kids to buy
elbow grease
Carol Raisfeld
children playing army
rock, paper, scissors
settle the war
stephen a. peters
mixed in
with the junk mail —
Missing Child
Laurence Stacey
acting like his father
the child's face
becomes hard
_kala
staring intently
the child jumps
as the mime blinks
M. Franklyn Teaford
touching the doll there
she tells the lady about
Uncle Frank
Carol Raisfeld
charming at first
an old man who still talks to
his old toy bear
Anita Virgil
CREDITS:
Drawing NYC street scene by Andy Virgil, (circa 1975), from Andy Virgil blog, copyright © Anita Virgil 2007; by permission of Anita Virgil.
“going through the tunnel” from Cicada IV,4, copyright © 1980 by Cor van den Heuvel; by permission of the author.
“Bloomingdale’s credit card” and “He tells me” from Ouch — Senryu that Bite, Modern English Tanka Press, copyright © 2007 by Alexis Rotella; by permission of the author.
“in the ghetto” and “ swarming like bees” from Senryu Magazine — out to lunch, River Willow Publications, copyright © 2001 by Alan Pizzarelli; by permission of the author.
"late February": from Frogpond, copyright © 2001 by Carlos Colón; by permission of the author.
“April Fools” from Shiki Kukai, copyright © 2009 by Carol Raisfeld; by permission of the author.
|
