Thursday, February 21, 2013

Graffiti Alley

  Rush Lane "Graffiti Alley", Toronto City



Aerosol paints streaking brick canvas
colorful squares on busted windows
bold fire balls & guns flaming
empty street
abandoned building
of broken pipe dreams & rusty fences  

See the faces,  drawn in charcoal
& greased fat,  years of toiling
in underground tunnels like rats-
“I see you---“  
from duct-taped note on pane
when no one is looking
underneath the dirty stairway or
behind the urinal walls--

“Don’t think!  Feel! “
“I do….”   Scribbling name  
& date underneath
before I leave --
before these walls are torn down 
& painted white from mayor’s order—Vandalism! --

I inhale their stories, 
grafted skin & soulful eyes-- 
like a map to another lost city-- 



Posted for:   D'verse Poets Pub  

Story and picture credit:  Toronto Street Art or Vandalism - here

38 comments:

  1. i inhale their stories...like a map to another lost city...i love that...to me they are the new hieroglyphs...that was actually going to be the title of my piece at one point...smiles....so much said in them...and to take in...and def the authority seldom embraces it...smiles.

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  2. nice...esp. the last two stanzas make it for me when the narrator connects to the artist's work....like a map to another lost city..i like

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  3. I agree with Claudia, those two last stanzas gives strength and contrast to the rest of the poem. Lovely

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  4. I think "before these walls are torn down" is really poignant-surely it's the fear of all artists that their work is futile, meaningless, forgotten. We have all got that in common. Though-provoking write Grace.

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  5. There's a lot of compassion in the ending, it can be hard to be confronted by the mess of others' lives. I thoroughly enjoyed where you took the prompt, wonderful!

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  6. Lovely words - final stanza - perfect.

    Anna :o]

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  7. Can see their thoughts and plots through their map, inhale away as it make for a great display. Have a nice day!

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  8. This is so visual and has a pic, so I imagine there is such a street where your narrator also writes before it disappears and inhales the map. What if the city isn't lost but in the underground of urban legend?

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    1. That would be cool idea Susan ~ The mayor wants to erase the whole street full of art from even renowned artists ~ Perhaps this might be the stuff of urban legend ~

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  9. Stunning write, thanks for the visit.

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  10. Wow...this is really good. Love it.

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  11. This is very perceptive, Grace; I like the aspect of the broken pipe dreams and hard work spent trying to get out...the sad stories in our culture recorded until they are demolished...

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  12. I like this alot. I always wonder about the people behind the words that are left behind.

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  13. so loved the lost city.... story behind each

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  14. It just goes to show you we all have different ways of expressing ourselves.

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  15. Love that last stanza, what a great way to feel a city through a map of its graffiti.

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  16. I think you gave a lot of reasons for the graffiti artists' work. Everyone wants to find a way to make their mark.

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  17. maps...I like that.

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  18. I like your description of the street here. You can almost see the dirt and smell the air reading your words. A lot of heavy realness here.

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  19. there is a lot of verve and colour in graffiti which perhaps is harder to find elsewhere =)

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  20. Shame that something so beautiful and vibrant as the human spirit displayed like this is deemed "vandalism."

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  21. love the different angles in each of the stanza. You hit on setting/place, reflection, story and imagery. Great job, very nicely done.

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  22. This is fantastic Grace...I could fee the place...sad they have no other place to create their art and soon it will disappear.

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  23. Would a dedicated area spoil the intuitive spur of illegality?
    Would it separate the chaff from the wheat?
    Make it blossom or kill it?
    You touched on so many facets.

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    1. I appreciate your thoughtful questions Aprille ~ Why indeed?

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  24. Grace~
    Your piece carries us to the root and core of both the acts and messages. I also like the way you describe the media and canvases used by the artists. You cover all facets, here.

    http://www.kimnelsonwrites.com/2013/02/22/it-is-written-vehicles-of-the-word/

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  25. ...i inhale their stories... like a map to another lost city... --- for me that was outstanding Grace... go back here in philippines and you'll inhale many same stories... yes, like a map to another repeated yesterdays... smiles...

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    1. I would love to visit, why not ~ I miss the people and food ~ Smiles ~

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  26. Yes, I too love those finishing lines - and the whole thing, really.

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  27. I so love the last stanza (I inhale ... ). really beautiful ending.

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  28. so vivid. I was drinking this in, it is wonderful. you incorporate the art form and the artist. You final stanza is stellar.

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  29. Yes, I felt this, right from the first line.

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  30. These moments of raw action definitely have an ability to shed rich messages. I love how this spills out so rigid and quick, perhaps the way this sort of art comes to life.

    I would love it if you shared any piece of writing from me with Real Toads. I would feel very special, really!

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