baltimoreshottowersonnets

[baltimoreshottowersonnets]

In shot towers, molten lead was poured in drops from the top. It formed into balls as it fell and solidified upon hitting cold water at the bottom, forming shot.

J. Dorsey & J. Dilts, A Guide to Baltimore Architecture

[baltimoreshottowersonnets]

BOOK THING

pregnant she gave <3 <3

not for resale

Russell is lumbering

in the room around us

guts of a thief

I remember you

in quiet air

lifting us through space

it’s a book thing

fictional affairs

stamped green, black, red

lent without due date

we have a book thing

free, discarded, recycled

[baltimoreshottowersonnets]

STEBE WEVER

my friend has a radio station

tune in you feel most human

move to a rocky state & return

meet yourself & fall in love

take a shiner for a friend

the radio to heights unknown

only static when you drift

Wittengstein in the Chesapeake

don’t let sorrow sink you

radio gets you vibed

stations of fuzzy warm light

clairvoyance in clear voidance

you know the next line

[baltimoreshottowersonnets]

POPTRONICS ELECTRONICS

doom stars

the sky littered

once there were

a few tenants

screaming in your ear

don’t let that change you

so you hear disgruntled voices

you frack in hell

dear father microwave

accept this ghost bike

music for my manikin

a blowup doll

in the front seat

for the HOV

[baltimoreshottowersonnets]

JOHN WATERS

I played a lot of wackadoos

it was a little traumatic

I didn’t want fear to run my life

leather parties, mod drugs, cosmetics

French inhales a pencil mustache

Stoli martinis at the Chuck 

all this female trouble makes you human

still I steal ideas from actors

I knew during my years of playing

idiosyncrasies seriously

Google wasn’t around when we met

there is no truth among us

I like you, you are a character

you remind me of myself

[baltimoreshottowersonnets]

WHAT IS & WHAT CAN BE

depends on the Arabber’s cart

light awning, skinned red fox

victim of the street but look

the Buddha of North Ave floats serene

above a looted Korean beauty supply

save it for later, don’t let me down

raised on radio’s invisible light

I love your musical way of talking

burning from sunrise in Sherwood

to midnight’s dip in a supermoon

every day is pride; I’m proud of you

phantom wing capable of flight

the Arabber has fresh cantaloupe, melons

something as simple as being close to you

[baltimoreshottowersonnets]

ROOT BOY SLIM

neither slim nor a boy

burning voodoo sex change

present but elsewhere

his eyes his eyes his eyes

banned for inciting a riot

he rushed the White House

out of his mind on the truth

he sought the center of the universe

a white jacket affair at St. Liz’s

he didn’t run away, his family did

resident of a paneled station wagon

the deposit is a maintenance fee

boogie you ascend

[baltimoreshottowersonnets]

FEVER

I met Christ

in a warehouse

shepherd of the lost

knows to dance

electronic trance

breaks beats

bodies liquefy

when the lights come on

bright white kaleidoscopic

the dot in the domino

is a person in this

land of peasant living

star fencible

you don’t fall

[baltimoreshottowersonnets]

GLASSPHALT GLITERATI 

the loose survive the wreck

on radio-transmitted nerve

good wine has nice legs

morph like the kid crashed

trapped an overturned car

stranded in a streambed

seven days & seven nights

fish with your hands

drink from your shoe

amphibian until the eighth day

elbow the door ajar, true story   

up the embankment and rescued 

stars fled motel in john’s SUV

don’t rear-view mirror

[baltimoreshottowersonnets]

SHERWOOD GARDENS

sex in a Prius isn’t

trip through tulips

only in fantasy

the bubble isn’t burst

prelapsarian as Adam & Eve

three a.m. on the Gold Coast

extracted from clouds

snaps the oriole in your hair

she goes for all the chills

teenage dreams & holy simpatico

don’t leave, we can order food

over the internet

in love

with love

[baltimoreshottowersonnets]

QUAKER HILL

most friends believe in

continuing revelation

quietude of owls in the valley 

fox & white tailed deer

bald eagles on twelfth night

red belly, downy, hairy

woodpeckers pattern a call

train harmonium in the hills

what did you learn today?

surrealist techniques, flower eyes

holy smokes, a champion silver maple

epiphanies after decision fatigue

do not frighten what you wish to grow

[baltimoreshottowersonnets]

DANIELS

beneath the ruins of a church

struck by lightning in the hills

rainbow trout take a heron highway

rush the rapids into waterfall

silver-backed until teeth chatter

bask on a sun-baked rock

loquacious boys wade the Patapsco

the apartment in Brooklyn lost

to an extended camping trip

fishing seeks such epiphany

the wait for a sudden moment

at times it’s fawn light

a place to be from

[baltimoreshottowersonnets]

DYANE FANCEY

if art school doesn’t kill you

Mount Royal might later that night

angel in the tavern down in Fells

did we meet? she answers thrice

sweet frenetic radio, dial like dice

I call Wayne Countryman

I call Chris Toll, David Franks

commute commune with Edgar Allan  

bestiary collage of hero tigers

odd jobbers among wharves, echoes

independence defended & preserved

when they say, hey, quit that

why not call a poet?

[baltimoreshottowersonnets]

BLACK SQUIRREL

spider monkey in the hedge

born into the band a roadie

intuited bass as feeling 

la di da di we like to

white rabbit on backroads

reactor threatens to explode

Goatman on the hood with an axe

agricultural experiment gone wrong

stop & listen under “Cry Baby” Bridge

where is it happening?

upstairs

psychic walk-ins are welcome

Promethean, you gave me the lighter

silver foil wings inflamed “fear not”

[baltimoreshottowersonnets]

BUTCHER’S HILL

she’s in the kitchen

crying with a knife

why are you crying?

I’m chopping onions

the packy’s open on Sundays

run to the corner

a pack of ciggy butts

& a bottle of Jameson 

sorry I did or said or whatever

sorry it’s all kind of anyway

sorry I’m not sorry

why are you crying?

I’m only chopping onions

[baltimoreshottowersonnets]

LIAM’S

once I drank with our lady

salvation sewn in a pocket

humble shirt, mission thrift

rough brown fabric threadbare

saves in the nation’s capital

out she comes with my license

miraculously the cop lets me off

a warning & five full of grace

I give the devotion to my son

without, the devil’s houndstooth

a shot & a poetry tour if I listen

Jina our bartender shouts him down

the devil don’t pay for drinks

[baltimoreshottowersonnets]

FALLS ROAD

you have a whisky voice

my mechanic on the phone

purrs to the receptionist

I’ll have you know, sir

I’m a good Christian lady

the receptionist is miffed

when I visit the shop

my mechanic is sorry

bearded gnome in his eye

cackle in his throat

cigar in stubby fingers

beatific at grubby counter

he could not fix the Volvo