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Every Day Poems

A Poem A Day

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Urban Poem

Street Life by Fran Schumer

February 12, 2023 by Every Writer

Street Life

by Fran Schumer

Today, I watched a woman,
not young, squat in a doorway
on a crowded street, and pee.
I wore my new black shoes.
Later, I saw her crouch down
beside two men. Their cheeks,
crinkly brown like autumn leaves,
glowed in the still warm sun.

When I was young, I watched
a Little Person, fair and blond,
squat beside a tall, dark man
on a crowded highway, and pee.
How breezily she zipped up her jeans,
leaned against her companion,
then continue on her way.

Even younger, I watched an old woman
pick through the trash at Coney Island.
Her shredded stockings
crawled up her legs like spider silk.
The hamburger my parents bought me
turned grey in my cold, numb hand.

My great aunt picked
through trash
though she wasn’t poor.
Her husband was maybe gay —
no talk of that then —
she only knew she was unwanted,
pitied for not having children.

I watched her rummage
through old crusts, crushed cans,
bags stained with grease,
a veiled hat pinned
to her angel white hair,
a brooch at the collar
of her fine, dark dress.

At home, I disinfect my new shoes,
tell my husband of the varied street life
in the downtown where we now live,
at this, the end of our years.
Better than living in a gated community,
blind to the world, he says.

I say no —I’d rather live
in a gated community,
and soon we will,
walls made of clouds,
the angels singing,
lulling us into the false
consciousness of the dead.

 

Fran Schumer’s poetry, fiction, and articles have appeared in various sections of The New York Times; also, Vogue, The Nation, The North American Review, and other publications. She won a Goodman Loan Grant Award for Fiction from the City University of New York and in 2021, a Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing poetry fellowship. In 2022, her poem, Memento Mori, was a winner of the Martha’s Vineyard Poet Laureate’s 2022 Contest. Her Chapbook, Weight, was the first runner up in the Jonathan Holden Poetry Chapbook Contest and was published in 2022 by Choeofpleirn Press. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., she studied political science at college but wishes she had spent more time studying Keats.

Filed Under: Urban Poem

Afternoon by Nikhil Nath

March 10, 2015 by Every Writer

Akron Skyline

Afternoon

by Nikhil Nath

I will not
want to be
money

in the tight
fist of an achiever
riding a Benz

I will prefer
to be money
in the loose fists

of lovers
who go dutch
over as little

as ice lollies
on a summer
afternoon

Filed Under: Urban Poem

Beating the Devil by Jean Varda

June 19, 2014 by Every Writer

jeanvarda

Beating the Devil

by Jean Varda

I beat the devil last night
she said fighting for her life
He was right there in the room
with me. I slammed all the
doors and windows of myself
closed. I willed my heart to
keep beating. My lungs to
suck in air. I am not ready yet.
Though my heart is blocked and
leaking. My kidneys have failed
and my body lies here pale and
tired. I want to always see the
beauty of a rose and my little dog
watching for me from the window.
I want to climb again the hills of
San Francisco with my grandson.
The place I am from. And my
granddaughter I love her with
all my heart. I have opened all
the doors and windows of myself
to let the air rush in.

###

Jean Varda’s poetry has appeared in: The California Quarterly, The Berkeley Poetry Review, The Lucid Stone, Poetry Motel, The Santa Fe Sun, Avocet A Journal of Nature Poetry, River Poets Journal and Prompt online literary magazine. She has published 5 chapbooks of poetry, most recently, “She Was Attached To Symmetry”, by Sacred Feather Press. Her poem “Sister Morphine” that appeared in “Red River Review” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She lives in Portland,Or.where she works as a collage artist.

Filed Under: Urban Poem

Stillness by Ion Corcos

April 14, 2014 by Every Writer

ic

Stillness

by Ion Corcos

Offerings remain
sprawled on the road,
white rice to appease

the gods, soiled black
with dirt and exhaust
fumes from rumbling

mopeds, cars, trucks,
shoe-prints indented
on white and grey

a remnant of ash
from an incense stick
placed by pious hands

a frangipani

small petals uncurled
its centre yellow
the residue of the sun.

###

Ion Corcos has been published in Lake City Lights and The Greensilk Journal, and upcoming in Message in a Bottle. Ion loves travelling
and has recently spent many months in Greece and Turkey. He lives with his partner, Lisa, in a small villa by the sea at Sapphire Beach.
http://www.ioncorcos.wordpress.com

Filed Under: Urban Poem

The Way of Things by Dave Cowie

March 23, 2014 by Every Writer

kobramuri
NYC art by Eduardo Kobra. Click the image for more.

The Way of Things

by Dave Cowie

I was in the parking lot
over on Hillside
with Preston and Spider.
You didn’t show.

The sun rose high
and then dripped down low
scorching the concrete.
We split a six pack.

People living in the real world
came and went
carrying their paper bags
of workaday crap.

Sitting in that beat-up truck
cigarette holes in the seats
sweating and joking
we forgot why we were even there.

Filed Under: Urban Poem

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