Sunday, August 2, 2015

The trespasser

When city slips into night beat
And streets are near-empty
of cars 
He comes out
marking back alleys
With his signature 
eccentricity

With pitted cheeks  
He struts
like he owns all street
corners 
yellow-pissed by homeless 
beggars
whores, pimps
drunkards 
gypsies with tarot 
And all the nobodies 

stencil-blued 
by moon
perfectly round
above split-level condominiums  




Graffiti Alley, Toronto City @Grace




Posted for Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - 55 Words - Trespasser
and Poets United - Thanks for the visit ~

32 comments:

  1. There is a great difference between street art and graffiti just to sneer at the failing system as they see it. It is as though it is a plea for help but that would never be admitted for that would weakness.

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  2. Perhaps the graffiti is the most beautiful part of this area, Grace. One has to admire the 'eccentric' talent of the artist despite all. Well penned.

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  3. This could also be called the graffiti artist. Great rhythm and compressions. Your imagery is very vivid. Thanks. K.

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  4. Agreed with Karin, the imagery is so intense and vivid.. this is such a powerful medium to describe a trespasser. Well penned :D

    Lots of love,
    Sanaa

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  5. In the daytime he may be a trespasser but at night he belongs and creates...most vividly I suspect

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  6. True art straight from the heart and soul of man.

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  7. "He struts / like he owns all street / corners"...like the creator....so love these lines..true artists are a bit eccentric no doubt....

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  8. What an excellent portrait - both of man and city. Really well-executed in just 55 words.

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  9. Graffiti can show a lot and sometimes be better than the other stuff

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  10. may be this trespassing is an escape route to maintain his solace......................beautiful description.

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  11. I love seeing all the creative graffiti in cities. London was really awesome!

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  12. And I bet he'd want to spray paint your poem all over a wall...it's a fantastic representation of who he is. Great poem!

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  13. This doesn't happen to me very often, but after reading the poem I found myself wondering about the speaker... About she or he relates to "the nobodies".

    Wonderful shot of city and duality...

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  14. I can see him, owning the nighttime streets he avoids by daylight. Love "stencil-blued by moon."

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  15. You paint a picture as vivid and eccentric as the subject of your poem. Very cool.

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  16. I mentioned on another blog that I once had a friend who was a graffiti artist. He was nineteen years old and had come from California. He was a stoner and didn't believe in making any situation permanent, so he eventually moseyed on and I lost touch with him. I wonder what he's doing these days. This poem is so Shane. He was a harmless fellow who just wanted to leave a colorful mark on the world.

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  17. Very vivid hard hitting poem Grace...this graffiti artist is gifted and I love the real raw work they do and where they paint their art.

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  18. For a time I worked from midnight until 6 AM traveling all over downtown Cincinnati, filling coffee machine in businesses, and collecting the money.

    You just gave--in perfect prose--a reliving of that year, and the nightly "stories" which grew from there. I had forgotten. (sigh)

    WONDERFUL, your talent for painting, not graffiti, nor wall!

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  19. For a time I worked from midnight until 6 AM traveling all over downtown Cincinnati, filling coffee machine in businesses, and collecting the money.

    You just gave--in perfect prose--a reliving of that year, and the nightly "stories" which grew from there. I had forgotten. (sigh)

    WONDERFUL, your talent for painting, not graffiti, nor wall!

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  20. Really amazing Grace!
    Graffitti are something special:)

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  21. Beautiful portrayal of the night artist. I like the picture too. As always, your combinaion of words creates a very good piece of art.

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  22. What an awesomely rendered character sketch. One thing about a big city - there seems to be room for (and various levels of acceptance of) all kinds of people... even those who, I suspect, would quickly wear out their welcome in a smaller town.

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  23. Excellent poem, Grace, but I am sad, that you mentioned beggars, whores, pimps and gypsies, all in the same breath ... cuz I am a proud and happy gypsy. https://www.youtube.com/embed/UeojXAKpUXs?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0 Love, cat

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  24. trespassers are ghosts that stroll both at night and in daytime. they are quiet but somehow will eventually speak out in their own inimical way

    well written my friend. i too take exception for including the pimp in that coterie of unmentionables because all the other's have a story and aren't necessarily 'users' like the 'pimp'.

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  25. Great view of a tagger and street artist.

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  26. Really brilliant writing. Graffiti is an art form for sure. Loved the story telling :)

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  27. Fantastic! There are so fabulous artists with spray cans. They do seem to be ghosts.

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