2 May 1999
Manhattan Correspondent Danielle Chynoweth

Response:

there is a man
silver lock protecting the mouth of his pack
the kind to lock a chain link fence to keep the car thieves out
laces on his boots are untied, their yellowed tips frayed and muddied
calf of his leg twists around the other calf, foot hanging loose
a booted protrusion

elbow propped on wooden arm rest
round body slumped into the square of his bench seat
built for discomfort

he sleeps in his leather earmuffs

eleven a.m. and eveyone is looking somewhere else
we're all waiting for the screech of the train 
  to extract us and drop us some place else

his whole body encircles a small object
i shift position to view the prized thing in his embrace

a teddy bear squeezed so tight its eyes are pinched shut


Response to Bernadette Mayer's experiments in writing: (thanks William)
http://www.poetryproject.com/mayer.html
  • Structure a poem or prose writing according to city streets, miles, walks,
    drives. For example: Take a fourteen-block walk, writing one line per
    block to create a sonnet; choose a city street familiar to you, walk it,
    make notes and use them to create a work;
  • The uses of journals. Keep a journal that is restricted to one set
    of ideas, for instance, a food or dream journal, a journal that is only
    written in when it is raining, a journal of ideas about writing, a weather
    journal. Remember that journals do not have to involve "good" writing-they
    are to be made use of.  Simple one-line entries like "No snow today" can
    be inspiring later.