JALOPY DREAMS OF A MOTHERSHIP

JALOPY DREAMS OF A MOTHERSHIP
Woodrow Phillips

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bless’d are the graffiti artists

 

bless’d are the street poets, the undergods of underdogs,

canary kids always tasting the atmosphere,

illegal artists caught in the gleaming glory of police spotlights,

recording history in black and purple block letters,

                                     every word a bruise  

 

bless’d are the bus stops, where prescriptions can be filled

 

bless’d are the jackhammers, the bulldozers, the traffic cones,

blocking all the sidewalks, filling streets with noise and dust, orange

hats and asphalt faces, bless’d is this artless mess

 

                          bless’d are the dreamers who dream upside down,

who dangle from the thinnest of threads, whispering at the world

(hello fate, my name is bait)

 

bless’d are the mom and pop shops locking their doors,

orphans of the industrial apocalypse,

forgotten in the aftermath of bizarre bubble-math                                                    

 

bless’d are the homeless men under the overpass, long necks

long shaking limbs, bones with beards, creeping out of their caves

like wolves, or werewolves, or insane haiku masters

                     (hey friend, please help – running for president – need campaign funds)

 

                                        bless’d are the jalopies, the wild pilots of jalopies,

philosophers of practical jalopyism, bless’d are all things that

don’t know how to die, and the junkyards where jalopies-to-be dream

of a mothership

 

bless’d is the hole in the dashboard where the stereo used to be,

and the professionalism of a skilled thief

who can jimmy a lock without breaking it, or smash a window,

or press a knife into a throat

bless’d are the pawnshops that pay cash, no questions asked

 

                            bless’d are the billboards reminding us to buy milk

 

bless’d are the coffin shaped coffee shops, where all things can be viewed

thru coffee stained windows, argued and debated, profound or profane,

            overdosed minds turning bitter, reaching for sugar

 

and even though i walk in the shadow of a seventy four story

corporate headquarters, i shall not fear,

         because

                      my graffiti poems glow in the dark,

aerosol nightlights, words painted in the color of fire and blood

knowable only to those who speak the language of drums, fists,

heartbeats

 

bless’d are the graffiti artists,

for they shall inherit these walls

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 ©2012 This work is the property of the author.