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Two Poems by Nadezhda Petrovic
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high noon on Camp Street
bang.
noonlight on the corner
buckled pavement, splintered fence
bang.
cars with shaded windows slow
to tango with do-ragged youth hanging
half-assed stumble strut
hands in pockets, holding
bang.
goods white goods white wealth
runners in sunlight blue
police heavy-bellied Big Macs
bang.
ass shot at brightnoon
on Camp Street, on the corner
next to the puked up French fries
and the syringe
under a cypress tree
in the red blue of a strolling siren
bang.
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Nadezhda Petrovic
2007
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low night on Camp Street
low in dark light
i am quiet
so small, a crumble
of thought, senses dusted
by the sax wail somewhere down the street
the ladies strut. their giggle wiggle
registers middle in my ear canal
input important not
night dance
smoky laughing mixed with
rats sniffing garbage
recycle
headlines and beer bottles
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Nadezhda Petrovic
2007
Posted at August 24, 2007 07:58 PM
I do so appreciate your commentary, John. It is gratifying to know that one does not always write into a void...Mt. Hope is a wonderfully rich place to live. I love this community. Rats. Shots. And all the rest. And the stupid Drug Dealer has been immortalised...by newspapers and poets alike...Did he earn the infamy? No! But he did provide good copy!...Thanks, again. N.
Posted by: Nadezhda at August 30, 2007 06:50 AM
Some nice "skipping reels of rhyme" there, N.P. but I got to verify one thing: the guy, "ass shot at brightnoon" in your poem, wasn't he immortalized in the blog post, "Butt-Shot in Mt. Hope" a while back? Now he's immortalized in a poem too? Hey, it's difficult to keep up with what's going on with these people's asses these days, what with drugs and bullets turning up in the unlikeliest of places.
I shouldn't make light of a serious situation. And yours is a serious, well written poem that really captures the sadness and the visceral impact of what is going on in Mt. Hope. In addition you enable a great visual representation of the street scene in the minds eye. I especially like the "police heavy-bellied Big Macs" line. I got to say, N. P. you give a lot of "Bang" for the buck in that poem.
Anyway, I just wanted to say nice poems, and thank you for sharing them with us.
Posted by: John at August 29, 2007 03:25 PM