Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

Buggsy Siegel
and Constantinope
walking da mean streets
of baltimore
south caroline street
Down near the waterfront
dinochio with a razor in his boot
and I was scared
and it was
Bad day at the Acropolis when the Greeks met the Jews

dinochio

mi amigo

holy shit
dino used to tell me stories like this
the mean streets
and well my past wasn't much different
I lived further north
but the gang fights were serious
as a heart attack
I remember one night when my fear
rose to the level of olympic hurdler
and I cleared six chain link fences in a row
to escape a good whoopin'
and I sailed off into the night
with a grin on my face
and shit in my pants....another night
I wasn't so lucky....took the Literal Clothesline
to the neck in someones back yard

Dem wasn't the
good ole daze
Seemed like everyday
there was someone
fighting in the park
Too many baby boomers
Ugh!
Was glad to getaway to
California in '68
Menlo Park then Mountain View
Northern California which was a
different animal from it's southern part
Came back to DC in '70 though
Just in time for my senior year in H.S.
On the southeast border of DC and PG County
Where I grew up on the banks of the Oxon Run creek
The whole world had changed
It was the time of long hair and pot

Didn't get to B'more till '97
An old firehouse in Sowebo/Hollins Market
was my home till 2007 when
I came to Frederick

we walked the same space
but not the same time
my Baltimore was the 194o's
when cops walked the beat
and twrilled their oak clubs

I just imagined that me and dino walked those streets in the sixties

baltimorese confused the hell out of me when i first got there
droodle park and pa'erson park and hollandtown
i landed on regester st in the point
memorizing names - gough, bank, eastern, fleet
lots of skipjack employment
bars, restaurants, discarded syringes, stray cats
painted screens, crab parts
good-hearted and nicely seedy

A city of graveyards and ghosts for me now

it is still in my dreams,
my earlies memoroies go back
to black out shades on the windows'
air raid wardens on every block
watching to make sure the night was black

Eastern and Caroline, dino lived up a few blocks
always wanted to meet him at the Fells Point market sit on them little stools right outside on the sidewalk, and we would order 5 cent milk shakes
did not know him long,
but felt like I knew him a long long time
his poetry spoke to me
I wondered why he was not rich and famous for it.
but I am autistic that way

dino and i talked many times
'bout creating a venue where
Anyone... could read, it was a passion of his
he despised the snobbery of who got invited to read
and i agree he should have been well known
his work was diverse, creative, deep cuts
we even checked into a few places
but never really got it off the ground
I miss those conversations...the serious
and the silly in equal parts...the stories
of B'mo, the train tracks, the trouble
we got into, the nicknames, the fun...

Dino was at the poetry party
Load of Fun gallery where we all read
for a poetry in Baltimore event
It was of course an amazing night
It all seems like a dream now.......

dino is real
and he is still here

I still dream elephant love

I was there, too. And so was Steve (saw) and Terri. It was a great night!

indeed
dino was animated and great
it was a special night
and doreen was pretty damn good as well
oh man
wasn't That long ago
but i feel much older

dean had his gesticulations down to an art
steve-saw (he hosted dino and me)
brought the good liquor
i had my share
and maybe a couple of other people's
i'd never read in front of anyone, so it helped
doreen was there
and sorta saved my ass, nervousness-wise
dan cuddy, carol bindel, wireman
i wish i could replay the whole night
in real-time

enjoyed every minute
loads-of-fun
all readers were magic
there was a creative vibe that night
that isn't always around
one fed off the other
had a lot of fun with dean & terri
hanging at the ranch
too bad we are all so far apart
but alas it is true
not insurmountable distances
but more of a big deal as we age
pulling off a reunion
and of course, some of us are gone

Will the page flip?
Saturday brunch
Funky music on tunes
Thinking bout Basho
All those travels
Wanderings you might call em
Oh what a night it was
The poetry party
Think it was pib's 5th anniversary
It was a good sight
Some problems though
From what I remember
It's all dust in the wind now
Can't seem to find any archives
for the sight?
I see there's poetryinbaltimore.com
site coming in the future???

I saw the pictures.
I'd like to see 'em again.
I made the pib scene for awhile.
Dino made it go go GO!
It's a go, another GO!