~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Desire Street July, 1996 cyberspace chapbook of The New Orleans Poetry Forum established 1971 Desire, Cemeteries, Elysium Listserv: DESIRE-Request@Sstar.Com Email: Robert Menuet, Publisher robmenuet@aol.com Mail: Andrea S. Gereighty, President New Orleans Poetry Forum 257 Bonnabel Blvd. Metairie, La 70005 Programmer: Kevin R. Johnson Copyright 1996, The New Orleans Poety Forum (8 poems for July, 1996) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contents: Aimless To Anika on Her Fourth Birthday Coyness (closed doors) Degeneration To God and his Dark Angels Ode to a Southern Town Plan of Action -------------------------------------------- Aimless by Andrea Saunders Gereighty A person kicking one solitary brown leaf down the pavement of August I leave the house early before dawn and work, to run. Clouds agitate grey clothes washed without soap. The levee rises Rain falls silver doubloons tinkle to the ground. With flat, broad, strokes the sky lightens. The black crow of morning incessantly caws away the night's darkness Until the reluctant sky, Raises the orange lantern of sunlight dawn that red glow in the east the flush of fever. the humidity hits me in the face like an abusive lover. -------------------------------------------- To Anika on Her Fourth Birthday by Athena O. Kildegaard My daughter and I sit on the dark couch with her first-year album spilling open onto our laps. She asks about the strangers holding her infant body. I ask how her hands came to grow so long, the fingers agile and gentle in their slow turning of the pages. How she could have learned this trick of smiling from one side of her mouth and pouting from the other. How her hair could fall straight down over her ears, hiding that curved entrance to memory. I want to know if those old friends remember holding her at just two days old--or if it is only I who remember giving her over to their arms and then stepping back to take the picture. Do they remember the way her eyes opened with such languor and then held there, her eyes looking into their eyes, still as violets on a cloudless morning? Do they remember how the neighbor's dog yipped and my daughter turned to find her mother? -------------------------------------------- Coyness by Nancy Cotton The bed: mattresses princess and pea high, With quilts plump as breasts, Pillows softly reflecting light From snow on the window sill, A cat, puffed as quilts and sunk Into its dreams to a deep lusting, Secures a corner. You: all procrastination and delay, Would draw out me and the afternoon Into filtered gold dusk, then, Magician, balance, like balls in air, light, Gold, sensuality, with hands Sensitive to reins of horses. Afterward, stayed in its flight, Dusk adores the cat, amuses Us with its love of everything in the room. Unneeded feathers, disturbance unknown, Here, Lady, is world enough and time. -------------------------------------------- (closed doors) by Christine Trimbo At this moment I am quite susceptible to Jesus hocking and sweet candy hearts pressed into my palms by strangers. What I cannot hear are doors closing. when I hid childhood in the closet, I felt the heavy clomp clomp of mother's clogs across the floor. If you close your eyes tight as fists you can see stars. The room does not belong to me, the pattern is my mothers, scarred wallpaper, stains of sun. I hide everything valuable in my closet and watch the eyes behind the door. Forever listening through stale, cramped air. And late at night, I leave the door open and wait and wait and wait. -------------------------------------------- Degeneration by Cedelas Hall Our childish acts broke his silence, brought rage and lashes from his leather belt. Yet we made more noise than he. In this there was little change. It is the cold I remember, air kept damp to ease his breathing. Summer or winter it crept into me shivered me on my ride home. The oxygen generator supported his degeneration white noise sometimes a pop followed by a sigh. Was it mine? We carry on as always aim teasing arrows at one another. Three applaud the archer one groans from the hit. Desperate hilarity swirls around wanting to include him not knowing how. He sits or lies in silence, nasal canula in place cigarette paper man eyes already gone. Listening? When I wanted to tell him My words misted into the cold air of his silence. -------------------------------------------- To God and his Dark Angels by clara c. connell God, you picked my bones so clean when you swooped down from that big oak tree near the railroad. You and your dark angels flew in a loop above, while I bled on that lonely road. I was half-alive, hoping to be killed by a passing car; by some farmer in his truck, carrying the crops from the field. I should have known you'd be the one, my friend. You were merciful, you and the angels, when you gathered my bones, later crushing them into the desert dust -- each single grain a white silence, infinite and hushed. Dear God, living forever is easy. Please -- do not wake me from this sweet sleeping. -------------------------------------------- Ode to a Southern Town by Barbara Lamont Strolling on Canal Street just before it meets Tchoupitoulas, you know, where it turns into Dauphine on the lakebound side heading to Conti with that junkety junk walk you get into sometime when you know a good crawfish is waiting on the corner of Bourbon with your name written all over those heads. He looked fine, a bit past his prime until he gave me a hi howy'all doin and I jumped back into my own private space off stride just a bit tryin' to figure was this a black thang or what go on with your bad self Me I never heard of a white Baptist until I turned on the tv at maman's house on Prytania one sunday bout eleven o'clock they was jumpin like the Lord done come and blessed they feet Go on with your bad selves with your junkety junk walk on streets like A.P. Tureaud and Robert E. Lee Boulevard so the white folks moved to streets with uptown names like Covington, Causeway and Transcontinental. but they can't hide the junkety junk talk at drive through Daquiris where his and hers Nissans and Pontiac Grand Ams mimic Infiniti, Avanti and Saab. Go on with your bad selves run those yalla lights in Kenner the last outpost of raw shopping malls with names like Elmwood and Esplanade still the junkety junk walk in your step a hint of the Second Line in the blood work that handkerchief, go on with your bad selves. -------------------------------------------- Plan of Action by kevin R. Johnson I will carry myself home in pieces & sell my soul or kill fifty men to do it; there will be a reckoning, but I don't care so long as they forget me; when I am resurrected with a different face I will walk slowly to that broken door & leave a poem full of skeletons & a surprise nicely wrapped; but today is a bomb slowly detonating in the soft factory of my 14 year old heart & if a run of as many miles won't suck away the fire then I will buy a carton of cigarettes & listen to them burn into a monument of ash as I catch my breath & try to remember my address ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE POETS OF DESIRE STREET clara c. connell Nancy Cotton is an immigration attorney. Andrea Saunders Gereighty owns and manages New Orleans Field Services Associates, a public opinion polls business and is currently the president of the New Orleans Poetry Forum. Her poetry has appeared in many journals, as well as in her book, ILLUSIONS AND OTHER REALITIES. Cedelas Hall is from Brookhaven, Mississippi. Her chapbook Before They Paved the Road recounts her experiences in that state. A writer/actress, she appeared as "M'Lynn" in "Steel Magnolias" at LePetit Theatre du Vieux Carre. Kevin Johnson, Piscean, enjoys Tequila under the stars and writes about the physiology of nothingness. Athena O. Kildegaard is a freelancer writer and mother and makes time between for writing poetry. Barbara Lamont writes about fear. Christine Trimbo lives in a house that once neighbored Degas’ house. She has two bicycles and a grey kitten named Lolita. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ABOUT THE NEW ORLEANS POETRY FORUM The New Orleans Poetry Forum, a non-profit organization, was founded in 1971 to provide a structure for organized readings and workshops. Poets meet weekly in a pleasant atmosphere to critique works presented for the purpose of improving the writing skills of the presenters. From its inception, the Forum has sponsored public readings, guest teaching in local schools, and poetry workshops in prisons. For many years the Forum sponsored the publication of the New Laurel Review, underwritten by foundation and government grants. Meetings are open to the public, and guest presenters are welcome. The meetings generally average ten to 15 participants, with a core of regulars. A format is followed which assures support for what is good in each poem, as well as suggestions for improvement. In many cases it is possible to trace a poet's developing skill from works presented over time. The group is varied in age ranges, ethnic and cultural background, and styles of writing and experience levels of participants. This diversity provides a continuing liveliness and energy in each workshop session. Many current and past participants are published poets and experienced readers at universities and coffeehouses worldwide. One member, Yusef Komunyakaa, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for 1994. Members have won other distinguished prizes and have taken advanced degrees in creative writing at local and national universities. Beginning in 1995, The New Orleans Poetry Forum has published a monthly electronic magazine, Desire Street, for distribution on the Internet and computer bulletin boards. It is believed that Desire Street is the first e-zine published by an established group of poets. Our cyberspace chapbook contains poems that have been presented at the weekly workshop meetings, All poems presented at Forum meetings may be published in their original form unless permisssion is specifically withheld by the poet. Revisions are accepted until the publication deadline of Desire Street. Publication is in both message and file formats in various locations in cyberspace. Workshops are held every Wednesday from 8:00 PM until 10:30 at the Broadmoor Branch of the New Orleans Public Library, 4300 South Broad, at Napoleon. Annual dues of $10.00 include admission to Forum events and a one-year subscription to the Forum newsletter, Lend Us An Ear. To present, contact us for details and bring 15 copies of your poem to the workshop. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COPYRIGHT NOTICE Desire Street, July,1996 copyright 1996, The New Orleans Poetry Forum. 8 poems for July,1996. Message format: 13 messages for July,1996. Various file formats. Desire Street is a monthly electronic publication of the New Orleans Poetry Forum. All poems published have been presented at weekly meetings of the New Orleans Poetry Forum by members of the Forum. The New Orleans Poetry Forum encourages widespread electronic reproduction and distribution of its monthly magazine without cost, subject to the few limitations described below. A request is made to electronic publishers and bulletin board system operators that they notify us by email when the publication is converted to executable, text, or compressed file formats, or otherwise stored for retrieval and download. This is not a requirement for publication, but we would like to know who is reading us and where we are being distributed. Email: robmenuet@aol.com (Robert Menuet). We also publish this magazine in various file formats and in several locations in cyberspace. Copyright of individual poems is owned by the writer of each poem. In addition, the monthly edition of Desire Street is copyright by the New Orleans Poetry Forum. Individual copyright owners and the New Orleans Poetry Forum hereby permit the reproduction of this publication subject to the following limitations: The entire monthly edition, consisting of the number of poems and/or messages stated above for the current month, also shown above, may be reproduced electronically in either message or file format for distribution by computer bulletin boards, file transfer protocol, other methods of file transfer, and in public conferences and newsgroups. The entire monthly edition may be converted to executable, text, or compressed file formats, and from one file format to another, for the purpose of distribution. Reproduction of this publication must be whole and intact, including this notice, the masthead, table of contents, and other parts as originally published. Portions (i.e., individual poems) of this edition may not be excerpted and reproduced except for the personal use of an individual. Individual poems may be reproduced electronically only by express paper-written permission of the author(s). To obtain express permission, contact the publisher for details. Neither Desire Street nor the individual poems may be reproduced on CD-ROM without the express permission of The New Orleans Poetry Forum and the individual copyright owners. Email robmenuet@aol.com (Robert Menuet) for details. Hardcopy printouts are permitted for the personal use of a single individual. Distribution of hardcopy printouts will be permitted for educational purposes only, by express permission of the publisher; such distribution must be of the entire contents of the edition in question of Desire Street. This publication may not be sold in either hardcopy or electronic forms without the express paper-written permission of the copyright owners. FIN *********************************************** FIN