~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Desire Street April, 1996 cyberspace chapbook of The New Orleans Poetry Forum established 1971 Desire, Cemeteries, Elysium Listserv: DESIRE-Request@Sstar.Com Email: Robert Menuet, Publisher robmenuet@aol.com Mail: Andrea S. Gereighty, President New Orleans Poetry Forum 257 Bonnabel Blvd. Metairie, La 70005 Programmer: Kevin R. Johnson Copyright 1996, The New Orleans Poety Forum (6 poems for March, 1996) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contents: Breathing Room by Cedelas Hall Charlston by Christian Champagne B.E.P. by Kerry Poree Bloodgoddess by kevin R. johnson Semana Santa by Andrea Saunders Gereighty Unfinished Business by Barbara Lamont -------------------------------------------- Breathing Room by Cedelas Hall She stands on tiptoe stretches for her sanity on the top shelf thinks maybe his is there too pushed way back close to the wall blue with mildew never ending emphysema. She grabs the box from its hiding place relieved the contents are safe dusts it off with a road trip to Logansport. She drives intent on the mission. Beside her he puffs life sustaining mist from a bronchiolator powered by the cigarette lighter. -------------------------------------------- Charleston by Christian Champagne My gentility always gets in the way. This is all I could think of Once I was back in Charleston. I found myself apologizing to cans of soup As I searched for Miss Shirley's cream of mushroom, But when I excused myself to each page of the Sporting News As I rifled through the pages In a futile search for news on Stump Mitchell, Well, I had to sit down and pause. A tasteful pause, mind you. My affliction was what worried me most. Sure I had been to graduate school in the north, But I could never shake this southern thing. Or was it a Charleston thing? Lee, Miss Caroline's oldest boy, had told me so long ago That Charleston had invented the south, And oh, how I believed him. It had gotten to the point that I had to eat the business section of the New York Times with my she-crab soup Not to be irretrievably lost in my Charlestonian prison. Don't get me wrong, I was proud to be from Charleston. But it was an overpowering thing sometimes. During one such pause when the Church of England didn't have the best of me I ran into Sath, an old chum from my days at the Citadel. I let him take the active role in the conversation. Rambling on he painted such vivid pictures with his rhetoric. An indigo John Calhoun here a rendition of John Locke inspired civic planning cooked down in a rice dish that no Upcountryman worth his blue washcloths would touch there. Sath was a mutant lowcountryman at that. He went to the right schools Would rather be discovered looking up a girl's dress at a cotillion than ever be caught with his northside manners down Gawking at Miss Tillie's Venetian tea set. Then he would switch gears and betray his kind by becoming the most feared house collector of his time. We ended up that afternoon by having a leisurely dinner, And if it's one thing we know how to do, it's be at our professional leisure. Once tried to start a leisure league, Until we found out that lounging in the later half of the twentieth century could wear a man out Before his all cotton shirt. It turned into a long night. Sath and I, two sons of Charleston Were in a way celebrating ourselves as we drank rum late into a Sumterless night. Then it happened. Some Yankee cads here on a ruching convention started to Charleston. Sath and I rose to the occasion and defense of our birth right. Sath was an expert with fanlight and pilasters. The cads from snow country retaliated with tickertape and tire irons. They were no match. We had the home field advantage. Satisfied as we triumphantly left the bar I bid Sath a most cordial and manner infested goodbye, And then I drove by Heyworth House. I thought of my very own identity. Not the one etched by outsiders of my southern heart. But a real American reveling in the ironclad beliefs of civilization. It had been built here, and it was in me. I slept well that night The warm hug of the Atlantic breeze lulled me to sleep, and I dreamed of camellias and zoning ordinances. I thanked the Devil who wore white planters' clothes, And I complimented my blue jeans both verbally and physically. The next night I tried to teach a parrot how to say "Dubose Heyward", And I cruised Church Street, not so much to see it As for it to see me. I was original and I was found. -------------------------------------------- B.E.P. by Kerry Poree DONT'CHA BE TOUCHIN' MY BAD ENGLISH POEMS. THAT AIN'T FOR YOU TO DO. DON'T UNCOUPLE ME FROM FOLKLORE , YOU! DON'T EXCHANGE MY BAD ENGLISH FOR LINGUISTICS. I SAID WHAT I MEANT TO. DON'T ERASE MY LOCAL IDIOM FOR THE NATIONAL STANDARD GUIDE. YOU SEE WHAT I'M SAYIN'? GOOD! NOW SMILE ME A BIG LOCAL TYPE SMILE, THREE GENERATIONS WIDE. -------------------------------------------- BLOODGODDESS by kevin R. johnson your blood is rain carved from the sky it rusts knives into spoons is a floodmusic for the moon incubating in water on the window beneath your whispers frantic petals urge the wind through another delirium tasting my fingers I remember the language of red the chant of raw sweet life -------------------------------------------- Semana Santa by Andrea Saunders Gereighty You seduce me, Amazon, with brown, moist beauty Lush tree dresses and leafy kisses The sky beckons blue Hides the sun with puffed clouds. Cruelty is your real game once I am yours. The sun escapes, does its best to parch me. Thirst quickens; the sun intensifies its desire. Piranha and caimen glide and gobble In the sweet deceit of your waters. Death hides in the rainforest. Mushrooms, hot pink. Fire sears the body when the "twenty-four" Strike Army ant bites that burn twenty-four hours. Rocks in your river hide Wait to split seams Spill the skiff and life. Bottom, up-close, water low To trick, sunder the outboard: Growl fish Loom in our faces that blister from sun and flies. Blue-headed parrots mock us Tributaries sneak in, curve like caimen Palms aloft, in honor of this Sunday. Mercy: You show none, Amazon To the children of the Yanomami. They sit, liquid-eyed, beside the boat Five in all. I produce chicken, chicklets, crackers To the girls. Amazon, you have not swallowed us Our boat, or some small measure of mercy. -------------------------------------------- Unfinished Business by Barbara Lamont She died on a perfect Spring day white lilac shoots pushing through as she lay in my arms and ceased to breathe. In the kitchen the children played a tinkly tune Oprah on the TV, fat again, led her crowd on to greater truths. The hole in the screen door began to whistle softly to mark the silence. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE POETS OF DESIRE STREET Christian Champagne spent many years as God's understudy and hasnow decided to go into business for himself since realizing that this particular God spells his name with two "D's" and is not a diety but an elf who raises termites hoping to make lace from their pelts. Christian lives a quiet life on an adjective farm. Andrea Saunders Gereighty owns and manages New Orleans Field Services Associates, a public opinion polls business and is currently the president of the New Orleans Poetry Forum. Her poetry has appeared in many journals, as well as in her book, ILLUSIONS AND OTHER REALITIES. Cedelas Hall is from Brookhaven, Mississippi. Her chapbook Before They Paved the Road recounts her experiences in that state. A writer/actress, she appeared as "M'Lynn" in "Steel Magnolias" at LePetit Theatre du Vieux Carre. Kevin Johnson, Piscean, enjoys Tequila under the stars and writes about the physiology of nothingness. Barbara Lamont writes about fear. Kerry Poree is an electrician from New Orleans. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ABOUT THE NEW ORLEANS POETRY FORUM The New Orleans Poetry Forum, a non-profit organization, was founded in 1971 to provide a structure for organized readings and workshops. Poets meet weekly in a pleasant atmosphere to critique works presented for the purpose of improving the writing skills of the presenters. From its inception, the Forum has sponsored public readings, guest teaching in local schools, and poetry workshops in prisons. For many years the Forum sponsored the publication of the New Laurel Review, underwritten by foundation and government grants. Meetings are open to the public, and guest presenters are welcome. The meetings generally average ten to 15 participants, with a core of regulars. A format is followed which assures support for what is good in each poem, as well as suggestions for improvement. In many cases it is possible to trace a poet's developing skill from works presented over time. The group is varied in age ranges, ethnic and cultural background, and styles of writing and experience levels of participants. This diversity provides a continuing liveliness and energy in each workshop session. Many current and past participants are published poets and experienced readers at universities and coffeehouses worldwide. One member, Yusef Komunyakaa, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for 1994. Members have won other distinguished prizes and have taken advanced degrees in creative writing at local and national universities. Beginning in 1995, The New Orleans Poetry Forum has published a monthly electronic magazine, Desire Street, for distribution on the Internet and computer bulletin boards. It is believed that Desire Street is the first e-zine published by an established group of poets. Our cyberspace chapbook contains poems that have been presented at the weekly workshop meetings, All poems presented at Forum meetings may be published in their original form unless permisssion is specifically withheld by the poet. Revisions are accepted until the publication deadline of Desire Street. Publication is in both message and file formats in various locations in cyberspace. Workshops are held every Wednesday from 8:00 PM until 10:30 at the Broadmoor Branch of the New Orleans Public Library, 4300 South Broad, at Napoleon. Annual dues of $10.00 include admission to Forum events and a one-year subscription to the Forum newsletter, Lend Us An Ear. To present, contact us for details and bring 15 copies of your poem to the workshop. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COPYRIGHT NOTICE Desire Street, April,,1996 © 1996, The New Orleans Poetry Forum. 6 poems for April, 1996. Message format: 11 messages for April, 1996. Various file formats. Desire Street is a monthly electronic publication of the New Orleans Poetry Forum. All poems published have been presented at weekly meetings of the New Orleans Poetry Forum by members of the Forum. The New Orleans Poetry Forum encourages widespread electronic reproduction and distribution of its monthly magazine without cost, subject to the few limitations described below. A request is made to electronic publishers and bulletin board system operators that they notify us by email when the publication is converted to executable, text, or compressed file formats, or otherwise stored for retrieval and download. This is not a requirement for publication, but we would like to know who is reading us and where we are being distributed. Email: robmenuet@aol.com (Robert Menuet). We also publish this magazine in various file formats and in several locations in cyberspace. Copyright of individual poems is owned by the writer of each poem. In addition, the monthly edition of Desire Street is copyright by the New Orleans Poetry Forum. Individual copyright owners and the New Orleans Poetry Forum hereby permit the reproduction of this publication subject to the following limitations: The entire monthly edition, consisting of the number of poems and/or messages stated above for the current month, also shown above, may be reproduced electronically in either message or file format for distribution by computer bulletin boards, file transfer protocol, other methods of file transfer, and in public conferences and newsgroups. The entire monthly edition may be converted to executable, text, or compressed file formats, and from one file format to another, for the purpose of distribution. Reproduction of this publication must be whole and intact, including this notice, the masthead, table of contents, and other parts as originally published. Portions (i.e., individual poems) of this edition may not be excerpted and reproduced except for the personal use of an individual. Individual poems may be reproduced electronically only by express paper-written permission of the author(s). To obtain express permission, contact the publisher for details. Neither Desire Street nor the individual poems may be reproduced on CD-ROM without the express permission of The New Orleans Poetry Forum and the individual copyright owners. Email robmenuet@aol.com (Robert Menuet) for details. Hardcopy printouts are permitted for the personal use of a single individual. Distribution of hardcopy printouts will be permitted for educational purposes only, by express permission of the publisher; such distribution must be of the entire contents of the edition in question of Desire Street. This publication may not be sold in either hardcopy or electronic forms without the express paper-written permission of the copyright owners. FIN *********************************************** FIN