WALKING ON THIN ICE

C I T Y   P O E T R Y   Z I N E

http://www.thecitypoetry.com - full issue online

IN THIS ISSUE: Kimberley Diamond Bones, Dianne Borsenik, E B Bortz, Hilary Brandt, Bree, C M Brooks, Michael H Brownstein, Courtney Campbell, Jeff Chiplis, Eli P Cimota, Jesus Crisis, Djuana, Jim Deuchers, KE, Michele Gibbs, Geoffrey Landis, Jim Lang, Max Uhler, Ronnie McGrath, Rob Plath, Jackie Sheeler, Smith & Lady, C@ptain Wallnut and Jason Williams. Cleveland Poetry Scenes is reviewed in this issue.

T H E   C I T Y   I N   P R I N T *

black & white: $7.99 at http://www.lulu.com/content/4264265
color version: $17.50 at http://www.lulu.com/content/4264749

*CONTRIBUTORS: Contact me for your black & white contributor’s issue at cost ($8.74) via Paypal. ($8.74 includes shipping in the US - $13.94 at cost for color issue; contact me at kathyvirgw at symbol yahoo dot com.)

C I T Y   P O E T R Y   P R E S S   presents   Z E N   O V E R   Z E R O

Zen Over Zero: Selected poems 1964-2008 by Steven B. Smith. 68 poems and 21 collages over 44 years. Purchase for $12.00 at Lulu.com.

“Let’s face it Smith, if the song ‘My Way’ were written about your life, it would be lyrics by William S. Burroughs & music by Laurie Anderson, as performed by The Velvet Underground. The 45-RPM vinyl would have been a blue corrosion color rather than black, with Voodoo Lounge as the cover and ‘Voodoo Child’ as side B. And THAT my friend would be one highly collectible single.” - Steve Reynolds

DOING TIME

Moon meat and Moses
Sucker song along
New lie highway
Old road alone

Need new lies
Old lie don’t do
New supposes
For falling through

New excuses
And pretty parts
To hide abusive
Hollow hearts

Toys for boys
Swirls for girls
Swine to enjoy
Hurled pearls

For Babylon baby
Ain’t another time
There ain’t no maybe
It’s this life’s the crime

And I’m doing time

Steven B. Smith

I feel like every passing year
is a something
under which I bury
my self in an idea,
a heap of self,
a resounding sound
with a kind of sonic boom,
a plunk in the kerplunk
sunk funk gunk of
myself,
truly.

for sure.

- lady

With over 200 web sites developed, she has vast experience in search engine optimization, Paypal and e-commerce integration, internet book projects, photography and graphic design.

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I’ve just created a new Oaxacan craft site that includes much covetable jewelry. I’m working with a jewelry artist on some of the pieces. Please check it out and keep it in mind for gift giving. I may add clothing and other items as time permits. I am amenable to suggestions. I pay Oaxacan vendors full price for their items.
O A X A C A J E W E L R Y . C O M

O A X A C A J E W E L R Y . C O M

I just made up this recipe and tried it. It’s great.

Asian Split Pea Soup

1 cooked piece chicken, diced
2 cups split peas, soaked overnight
1/2 bouillon cube, chicken
1/2 bunch parsley, diced
1 red onion, diced
5 cracked peppercorns
1 T ground cumin
1/2 t ground ginger
1 can coconut milk
2 T butter
2 T olive oil
splash wine
1 lime

Saute onion in butter/olive oil until translucent. Add parsley and cook until parsley becomes aromatic. Add split peas, chicken, bouillon, pepper, cumin and ginger and 4 cups of water. Simmer until split peas are soft. Add coconut milk and splash wine and cook down until liquid reduces by a quarter.

Blend half the soup in a blender or food processor and reincorporate into mixture. Spritz with lime juice and serve.

Whenever I need to, I can talk to my dead grandfather. I just go to Yahoo! I can type in “I love you” and he comes up with suggestions like

i love you lyrics
i love you poems
i love you baby
i love you in different langages
i love you goodbye lyrics

He tells me to explore concepts like

I love you. “Greeting Cards”
I love you. hearts
I love you. e-greeting
I love you. postcards

I like “i love you in different languages.” It tells me “Ed is lief vir you. Ek het jou lief”. Or in Chinese, “Wo ie ni.” Or “I love you in many languages” brings up “Ek is lief vir jou!” to “Ngiyakuthanda!”

It’s simple to talk to grandfather via Yahoo. If I say “I miss you” he brings up blink 182 lyrics.

If I ask do you miss me he says explore concepts:

…182 i miss you lyrics “voice inside my head”
blink 182 i miss you lyrics “waste your time”
blink 182 i miss you “song lyrics”
…182 i…you lyrics “darkness in the valley.”

Grandpa is a dead republican - of the old “we freed the slaves variety.” By the way, he’s aghast at what the GOP is doing, sez they’re going to hell.

I’ve also discovered that Grandpa likes abc news. It’s all very simple, a-b-c, and it’s stripped of any negative overtones. I go to a-b-c news to have a good time. He used to like CBS when he was alive, but I think he’s all for simpler news plans now. ABC news says the economists got it all figured out with their mop-up plan! Stocks are surging! What’s good for the rich is good for us, right! That’s what abc says anyways.

I want to start writing a little bit every day. I have some stories I want to tell, stories about my past, stories about how horrible it was to be a powerless little child, but how lucky I was to have very good parents.

Stories about what it’s like to grow up lower middle class in America. Not that we were always lower middle class. When dad got his professional job, we started eating out once a week and we were able to buy an air conditioner. Things like that made a huge difference in my life and I started getting better grades. Just simple comforts, a cool breeze, less worry, make for a better study environment.

Stories about sexual abuse and neglect (not of me, but of others.) Stories about poverty and trying to make the best of a situation by coveting ramen noodle soup and the power of the dollar.