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WALKING ON THIN ICE

N O P’s in Queue


Sparrows – foto Smith

N O P’s in Queue

Are sparrows really spare o’s?
Do they follow spare n’s?
Precede spare p’s?

Or is it spare o’s
as in
let them be
don’t use them
they’re tired
not enough
or up to snuff
so spare them please?

Or perhaps spare o’s
are extra o’s
left over so’s
spare parts
a lark?

I’m in the dark
need mental spark
so help me please
with my feathered needs
or no appease and cue.

— Smith, 9.17.2012


Not sparrow – foto Smith

Sun burst of pond top


white cloud above sill – foto Smith

Full moon in window
White cloud above sill
So many things

Reflected in lake
Lotus flower fine full bloom
Sun burst of pond top


lotus flower full bloom – foto Smith

Eviction Notice (from Gaea)


Falling stars – foto Smith

Eviction Notice

Stars are falling from the sky
future’s calling asking why
we haven’t learned greener ways
failed to earn our right to stay
eviction warning hung on door
Earth in mourning we weren’t more
wise and sharing, patient too
for in caring we learn what’s due
what’s right for right, not wrong for pay
it’s not might has final say
rich and poor share same worn Earth
accept, soar, or descend to dearth
Earth cracked core sore from our past
don’t let the door hit us in the ass

— Smith 9.15.2012


Flux & flow – foto Smith

Lady reads new chapbook 2nite @ Jammy Buggers


Lady reading from her chapbook Firecracker Mandalas – foto Smith

Lady K is reading from her new NightBallet chapbook Firecracker Mandalas tonight Thursday 9.13.2012 from 7-9:30pm at Jammy Buggars, 15625 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, Ohio 44107. The reading, A Fistful of Poets, is hosted by Dianne Borsenik whose NightBallet Press is releasing chapbooks by each of tonight’s five featured poets.

“One night, five poets, plus open mic to follow! Featuring Bonné de Blas, Kathy (Lady K) Smith, Alex Gildzen, John Dorsey, and Kara Johnston, all with new chapbooks of poetry! This is going to be a very exciting night, with a wide range of poetry and unrestrained grooviness. Jammy Buggars has promised us our own server and bartender… so bring your appetites! I know you’re hungry for excellent poetry, good food, drinkage, and time well-spent with friends! You can sign up for the open mic at the event. We’re going to RAWK it- see you there!”

A Fistful of Poets > facebook.com/events/350252785058290/”.

NightBallet Press > facebook.com/nightballet.press.

I’ll read in open mic from my bio Stations of the Lost & Found by Smith & Lady.

Bio
for Lady

I’ve had hot rod Lincolns
and the whites of their eyes
in my life nigh seven decades now
been way too fast wrong way bound
down one-way streets
on both ends of a gun
yet worked out most lies
and the stories that spill
from such good and ill
will outlast my lens
if ever I decide to go round that bend
for I’ve had white lightening
chased the dragon
fiddled with Federales
had tea in the tunnel
(with Alice)
fought über alles
pimped for the pummel
banked on the booze
till I emptied my flagon
winning even when I lose
so there’s a story in my arc
a moral for my fable
if you want to leave your mark
best frequently fail
with just a hint of spark
and land lightly on bruised feet
in the telling of the tale
and of course
it helps having a wife who edits well

— Smith 9.13.2012


Poetry water 9.11.2012 Shaker Library – foto Smith

Peaceful Pics

Peace to everyone on this day & every day…

~ Lady

5 poets 2nite Bertram Woods Branch Shaker Library


A community of poets – foto Smith

Enjoy poetry read by regional poets, Dianne Borsenik, Bonné de Blas, John Burroughs, Kathy Ireland Smith, and Steven B. Smith. Hosted by Barry Zucker.

Poetry in the Woods
Tuesday September 11, 2012
7:00 PM – 8:45 PM
Bertram Woods Branch Shaker Heights Library
20600 Fayette Road, Shaker Heights, OH

Dianne Borsenik, former flower child and current redhead, is active in the Cleveland poetry scene, and has performed her poetry throughout Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. She is co-producer of the Lix & Kix Poetry Extravaganza, and is founder/chief editor of NightBallet Press.

Bonné de Blas, book artist and poet, is the associate editor and book arts editor for Kattywompus Press and is a member of the Cleveland and Columbus Pudding House Salons. A co-founder and former director of Arts Books Cleveland, her artists’ books are in the Special Collections of the Cleveland Public Library and galleries in France and Mexico. A transplant from Phoenix, Arizona, she received her JD from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and did graduate work in creative writing at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

John Burroughs, also known as Jesus Crisis, is the founding editor of Crisis Chronicles Press and the author of seven poetry chapbooks. Between 1996 and 2002, twelve of John`s musical stage plays, commissioned by the state of Ohio, were performed as community service by inmates at Marion Correctional Institution. He later co-founded the Lix and Kix Poetry Extravaganza and and is currently writing a book about his experiences in and out of the justice system. Discover more at www.crisischronicles.com.

Kathy Ireland Smith, a.k.a. Lady K, is a poet, publisher, artist and surreal photographer from northeast Ohio. She and her husband Smith recently spent 31 months living in 10 countries on 3 continents, and you can follow their continuing adventures at WalkingThinIce.com. Kathy is also founder and editor of The City Poetry, an art and poetry zine based in Cleveland. She has a brand new chapbook Firecracker Mandalas from Dianne Borsenik’s NightBallet Press.

Steven B. Smith has been a poet 49 years, an artist 48 years, publisher of the Artcrimes art/poetry journal 27 years, editor of AgentOfChaos.com 11 years, and blogger 7 years. He and his wife, Lady K, just published *Stations of the Lost & Found,* a memoir of Smith`s first 60 years of life and crimes.

NightBallet Press > http://www.facebook.com/nightballet.press


Giant Head the Machine (of poets) – foto Smith

Firecracker Mandalas by Lady K


Firecracker Mandalas by Lady K

Lady K has a new chapbook out titled Firecracker Mandalas and two readings this week.

First reading is tomorrow night (Tuesday) at the Shaker Library and features Lady K, Bonné de Blas, Dianne Borsenik, John Burroughs, and me.

Poetry in the Woods
Tuesday September 11, 2012
7:00 PM – 8:45 PM
Bertram Woods Branch
20600 Fayette Road, Shaker Heights, OH

Her second reading is A Fistful of Poets this Thursday from 7-9:30pm at Jammy Buggars, 15625 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, Ohio 44107, hosted by Dianne Borsenik whose NightBallet Press is releasing chapbooks by each of the night’s five featured poets.

9-13-2012: “One night, five poets, plus open mic to follow! Featuring Bonné de Blas, Kathy (Lady) Smith, Alex Gildzen, John Dorsey, and Kara Johnston, all with new chapbooks of poetry! This is going to be a very exciting night, with a wide range of poetry and unrestrained grooviness. Jammy Buggars has promised us our own server and bartender… so bring your appetites! I know you’re hungry for excellent poetry, good food, drinkage, and time well-spent with friends! You can sign up for the open mic at the event. We’re going to RAWK it- see you there!”

A Fistful of Poets > facebook.com/events/350252785058290/

NightBallet Press > http://www.facebook.com/nightballet.press


Firecracker Mandalas by Lady K

Seven Year In


The lovely Lady K – foto Smith

Seven Year In

Seven years ago
you ignored my GO AWAY,
snuggled in for fun.

Because of you I
lost my place and tossed my stuff,
roamed three continents,

picked mountain coffee,
watched you jump a moving train,
saw flamingo sea,

smoked Moroccan hash,
lived in an old walled city,
rode camel on sand,

baked Mexican sun,
ate mushroom magic mountain,
sunrise southern France,

London, Italy,
Croatian fishing village,
goat heads piled on ground,

Marrakech finessed,
treasured Sierra Madre,
Amsterdam did dance,

till finally home
to you, me, our love and cat,
art, words, friends that splash,

our music still new,
no seven year itch yet we’re
near seven years hitched,

so swell on our way
Happy Anniversary
we’re seven years in

yet we but begin.

— Smith, 9.9.2012


Her odd choice for husband
(Lady on my shoulder) – foto Smith

Walkin’ the cat


All bow before Cat Queen Mandy, ruler of Apartment 3 – foto Smith

I was slowly softly firmly pulling fingertipfuls of fur on Mandycat’s head and neck, and her tail was whirly, her purr purry, and she got so wound with pleasure she leapt from my lap and ran. Trying to lure her back, I picked up the long string to attach to the end of my bamboo backscratcher to turn it into a cat fishing pole and I started to say “There’s more than one way to skin a cat” and at *than* my brain fortunately shut me down with “You don’t say that to a cat . . where are your manners?”

Wonder how many more unfair animal phrases I have in my head that need analysis and maybe abandoned as life-form-cruel? And where’s the line? *Raining cats & dogs* seems harmless enough until you envision them hitting the ground, while *The cat’s pajamas* is simply surreal silly and at worst might offend a cat’s dignity. *Pop goes the weasel* is definitely bad from weasel’s point of view while *The cow jumped over the moon* seems fun and harmless if we don’t consider her reentry into the atmosphere and hard earth landing, but *Hey diddle diddle the cat and the fiddle” implies some seriously kinky cat/fiddle sex as well as the dark implications of cat gut being used for fiddle strings.

I wonder what happened to the Smith who used to not care about such niceties, the one with the dark dark humor, the sharp-edged nasty-tongued chap who still slips out now and then.

Actually I know part of the answer to that – I got older and somewhat wiser and started listening and thinking a bit more and realized words cause pain and pleasure and that plants and animals dream as much or more than man.


Walkin’ the cat – foto Smith

We have our own persistent cat dreams to deal with now. We did bad trying to do good.

Lady has a soft heart, a sensitive soul, a caring spirit and an active imagination. She noticed how Mandy sits in the window and stares out as she sniffs the breeze, then glanced around and thought maybe the apartment wasn’t a big enough world for her. I wasn’t convinced it would work well but her logic was fair so we bought a cat leash and took Mandy out. She loved it immediately.

Walking a cat is not walking a cat but rather standing in one place while the cat sniffs every scent around, then moves a few feet and begins the process again, every now and then trying to slip in under the dark porch or out of the leash.

Within an hour of coming back in she was howling mournfully at the door wanting back out. We explained gently that it was a once-a-day experience and no, she would not be going back out. She continued her mournful mewling.

Took her out the next day. Once back in she got worse, cried to go out all night long. Kept her in two days. Her cries got less frantic but popped up repeatedly.

Took her out one last time 10 days ago. It took days for her anguished wanting-out wails to cease . . . she was especially vocal at night.

Anyway she’s down to lurking at the bottom of the steps at the base of the door, trying to find ways to slip out when we come or go and every now and then reminding us she wants to go out right now.

Trouble is I understand her point of view — I’d want out if I were her. But we live on a busy street, she has no outside experience on her own to be out alone, and we cannot live our life outside just to keep her happy. So since we can’t reason or compromise, she no longer goes out, ever.

We tried to be nice and understanding and put us all in a bind.

I’ve learned a lot about interacting with people by watching Mandy closely these past 3+ years. She deals in need/desire/want and it’s all RIGHT NOW, not later. There is no compromise, just success or defeat — and defeat to her merely means she keeps whining until she gets what she wants or she temporarily gives up after too many soft “no”s and starts in again later.

Our Mandycat no
mendicant rather Queen Cat
orders us about

— Smith, 9.8.2012



Peter Ball’s cat Harry (aka Hermes) – foto Smith

Rumi by way of Dr Seuss


Peace, love & understanding (dog, horse, wife) – foto Smith

Rumi by way of Dr Seuss
“Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you” — Rumi

“Only the lonely” the radio sings
to my heart inside with its variable wings
that fly through the cosmos inside and out
giving universal oneness an outright shout
for I am you and you are me and we be
together illusion rounded about
rich in collusion and agreed upon see
each with our input, each with our clout
we’re all many ones combined into swarm
merely collapsed Heisengergian wave form
so do not feel lonely, as Rumi says
our out is within, a morality play
we are not only this speck trapped in time
but many an any wrapped Rumi rhyme

— Smith, 9.7.2012

I don’t normally do homework poems (poem themes assigned by others) but Eva Xanthopoulos issued a FaceBook challenge at Poehemian Poetry Contest asking for a poem inspired by Rumi’s line “Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you,” so here I be with my 5-minute pome lite.


Labor Day Oneness March – foto Smith