‘Poetry’ Archives
LOST AND FOUNDRY
By DAVE MOORE I picked up a brick from the edge of the demolition,carried it home and set it on my porch,one small piece of that hated Smith Foundry. Forty years of smelling its burnt iron reek,closing windows in summer, eyes smarting,hearing my sensitive partner coughing::::Talked to pollution agency ginks,went to meetings, marched in protest,the whole neighborhood wheezing with asthma.Finally resigned to accepting the horrible stench,either live with the bitter fumes or move.And then:::: and then::::after decades of violations,initialed regulators finally heard us.Smith Foundry shut down. With barely any notice::::heavy scoops began to batter the walls,pouring water on noise and concrete as it crumpled.Now its tall stack lies smokelessly sideways::::Spring air carries the last remnants of dust. So I picked up the brick and brought it home,As if I had torn it out with my own hands.The air, of course the air is still dirtyfrom combustion engines whizzing past the site,but [...]
Slow-Rolling Boulder
By SAM HENDRIAN The Right cheer, the righteous jeerAt the documentation of undocumented hateYet both fail to see it’s not hate but fearThat permits prejudice to perpetrate. One person dies at the hand of a foreigner,Therefore the danger must dwell overseas;Never mind that many a coronerHas recorded their fair share of local atrocities. Our leaders operate in a post-logic landscape,A finger-pointing fairylandWhere there is no escapeFrom those who stand on anyone they don’t understand. The empathetic laugh it off,The apathetic whistle onLike a man with a cancerous coughWho insists he’ll always wake at dawn. And so we seal our country’s doomShrugged shoulder to shrugged shoulder,Forgetting that few have ever heard the boomMade by a slow-rolling boulder.
Love Notes
(written on November 9th, 2016) go about your day, dear ones.write your words and speak your stories.sweep the house and fill the pot with water. there’s no going back, darlings.your life is now the revolution you always sought externally.tidy your closet and turn the burner on. i know you feel tiny, loves.there is no ‘later, later’ anymore, only right now.wipe the table and scoop the grounds. know your strengths, beautiful.things have been unmasked; you have not been blinded. drink your coffee and rebelliously love. Mattie Wong is the editorial layout coordinator for the alley. She has been connected to the Phillips Community for many years through various jobs, projects, and community events.
