GOTTA GO!
Gotta go now
Wanna sing but day job pays bills
Run to catch the ‘bway
Pressed against other cogs in the car
We’re a movable beast
You can taste the air in here
and that ain’t a good thing
Gotta hurry up
Stop by coffee shop, grab a bialy and
some hot dark that speeds through veins
and makes brains go pop
In my cube 7 x 7
Hamster Heaven but Human Hell
Gotta run to help fix the copier
Maintenance can’t reach the tricky places
My fingers are nimble
I can take apart anything and I
joke with the guys and let them see some leg
as I crawl on the floor doing their job
I make soul-sucking misery look fun
Gotta go home to my wretched box
So square even the wallpaper is plaid
Swear to god it’s plaid
Gig tonight, no pay but exPOSURE
Pose in the mirror, pouty pretty
Gotta get to the gig
Back on the ‘bway downtown
This city is laid out in perfect lines
The A, B, C
The 1, 2, 3
The RR, bastard child of the rest
Follow the tic-tacs to find
a place to be, to become, to behave
but still believe it’s lasted
as long as it has
Here in the Gotham Game
Gotta go again
Shouldn’t’a drunk so much water
Surviving the City is easy
as long as you graph the clean bathrooms
on your mental map
© 2012 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
For Joseph Harker’s “Naming Constellations,” an ekphrastic poem (written to an image or inspired by same). I chose the Piet Mondrian piece, “Broadway Boogie,” but to tell the truth, I didn’t notice the name before I wrote this – I picked the image because it made me nervous, and that reminded me about deadlines and there was also a resemblance to subway maps! So there you go. Thanks, Joseph; you’re an inspiration even when you don’t throw us a prompt. (This is also in the “ticker tape” of poems at Poets United.)
Two notes: The ‘bway’ is not Broadway; it’s our old nickname for the subway (or the tube, for my European friends). The City is always and forever New York; no real New Yorker would ever refer to it as The Big Apple, either – unless you’re a surviving vaudevillian, for whom that expression had true meaning, because playing New York City was indeed getting a bite of the “big apple.” Bit of history for you!
The painting is a low-resolution image and is in no way fully representative of the original piece. Mondrian, a superb talent; this is meant in tribute to his work, not a “snatch and grab.” Peace, Amy
brian miller
always something to do…and we run here and there….i laughed at your closure on creating a mental map of the bathrooms…ha…
lmkazmierczak
Loved this ‘grid and bear it’ prose♫♪
vivinfrance
This is witty, pithy, completely Amy, I love every word. Those titles of the prompt poems were so effective, they added much inspiration to my four poems. http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com/2012/08/06/7635/
Sharp Little Pencil
Saw all four of your poems, and loved your take on each one. Your Mondrian, strikingly different, and totally original. WE ROCK, ha ha. Love, Amy
Misky
Interesting how the staccato pace of your poem almost made me feel breathless. Lovely piece of work, Amy.
Sarav
Wow, I feel exhausted! Love that line “hamster heaven, but human hell” you nailed that for shore! Wonderful piece.
oldegg
Well chosen painting Amy, it is certainly one of his most fidgety works! Heading for a nervous breakdown might also be a title for your poem, it was a delight.
Sharp Little Pencil
Like Aldomovar: “Women at the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown”! A
darkangelwrites
I can really relate to this, gotta gotta gotta. I’m slowed myself down over the years but still get this way.
Sharp Little Pencil
Try decaf, ha ha ha. A
Steve E
Like your mental ‘images of usable bathroom locations’ in the city.
Riding Flex (scooter) on freeways etc., I have cataloged memory of overpasses–place to run in case of sudden storm. Hid under one today for an hour. Met other bikers, had a grand old time. (No, Ms Pencil! I did NOT drink their beer–grin!)
“Tasting the air” (not a good thing) brought me memories. Feeling, smelling, and yup, tasting–right on top. Do you slice first? I know JUST to what these lines speak.
I forgot, what kinda gigs you do? Singing? I still ‘violining’ but left it home for my “PEACE” ride, it not fitting well over the rear tire. (I tried!)
Thought sure the picture was of your 7X7 Cubicle Palace….hmmmm?
PEACE, Girl. It is good to be reading you again.
Sharp Little Pencil
So many questions! I sing jazz, but not in clubs anymore… sing praise and gospel at our church (United Church of Christ, yeah, we the lefties, ha ha)… and yes to the plaid wallpaper. It was in the kitchen and that was the year I lost weight because I wanted to barf every time I saw it! Cubicle life far behind me… hope Brian finds a job without a cubicle… Now get on that bike and RIDE FOR PEACE!
Rosemary Nissen-Wade (@SnakyPoet)
You certainly conveyed that nervous energy of city life! A wonderful complement to the painting.
hedgewitch
I was laughing to keep from crying reading this–I am not a City Person at the best of times–my memories of New York are ones of utter horror–but I loved your take on meshing with the matrix before it meshes with you–showing the leg, and especially “We’re a movable beast…” That one’s inspired.
Sharp Little Pencil
Ha, that line was added on a whim, and I liked it, too, I admit. Thanks, Hedge!
Polly Robinson
Full on Amy!
Mary
Well penned, Amy!
tashtoo
Holy smokes Poet…weave that ink filled wand! Plaid WALLPAPER…you’re kidding me! What a box you’ve painted…and the gigging for no coin…shameful memories I must confess…my blood pressure has risen incredibly…and that is just one of the many superpowers a poet hides in their notebook. Loved it!
Sharp Little Pencil
Natasha, yes to the plaid. Uckin’ Fugly, for sure. So many gigs still don’t pay; there’s a great Facebook post going around about an ad for a musician that pays nothing… try to catch it!
Adrian Giannini
Ha this touched close to me, not showing the leg but the working in a box… yup do it now … mmm plaid wallpaper interesting
Sharp Little Pencil
To Adrian and all my friends, I cannot reply to all your wonderful comments, so I’m visiting your blogs and FB sites instead. Thanks for the love, it really makes a difference in my mental health and ability to keep creating! Peace, Amy
Kavita
“Hamster Heaven but Human Hell” – loved that one- not for the “tiny” reality, but for the humor ! 🙂
God, how I love THE city… be it the subway, or the steamed up vents, the stinky bylanes, the Village or be it TSQ.. I just cannot help but love it! 🙂
“as long as you graph the clean bathrooms
on your mental map” — hahahahha…you bet!!
rmp
“Hamster Heaven but Human Hell” don’t work in 7X7 box, but understand the craziness of constantly running (in circles it often seems).
nice piece…
Renee Espriu
Sweetie, I know where they all are after having five kids. It is a must to know some things in life and that is one. LOL
pandamoniumcat
What a terrific poem. I have a real feeling I know what New York is like, that intense pace, and graphing the mental map of clean bathrooms, most important. You have a wonderful musical style… 🙂
barbara_
Nice. nice interpretation of the paint, and of the world. way to go