WEST SIDE, EAST SIDE, UPTOWN and DOWN

A cross town bus and uptown subway sort of Sunday

Emerging at 3 O'clock to wide open moody skies

That's St John The Divine's Gothic Cathedral Spire

Inside the tiny and well appointed Bar 'Suit' for the launch of "Glorious Babe", John Marcus Powell's second collection with Exot books, there is no sky, just many poet friends under a low slung ceiling.  This new offering delivers.  It's as raunchy, lusty, direct, erudite and honest as any poems from a long liberated "queer" man as you may ever encounter.  And, so idiosyncratic that sparks spin off over every precipice, and just when you think you might know where you're going, a sharp turn takes you elsewhere.  He's a master tale spinner, a bard incarnate and, in my opinion, no one reads him like he does, though several presenters did some of them wonderfully.

Julian, Designer and graphic artist

R. Nemo Hill, Publisher and poet, wrote a stunningly brilliant preface

Enjoyment X three

Book signing after

Photo opportunities of course
John Marcus with Robert Gibbons

Adriana Scopino, and Walter jumped in

Then, David Yezzi and two women

(I got, but forgot, their names so sorry)

and finally, adorable Murray.

Outside on Amsterdam Avenue, the Con Edison building looming like a vault, and a fine Nelson Mandela message of hope on an 'American Payphone' booth 

A vibrant game of dominoes was being played by neighborhood familiars out in the street with furniture and family, their own universe. I pivoted to face the source of boom box music.

Thought about the words of the song all the way home
~*~

Monday 4:30AM
Piercing back up beepers and police sirens below, then a heated argument between undercover cops

8AM

Hindi or 'Gujerat' (don't really know) chattering that sounded like it was right in the room as three young workers swarmed up over the fire escape, yelling to one another in between hammering metal to chip off the old paint.

They paint tomorrow so windows will have to be sealed.
Lucky I asked them.  There was no notice for this mornings work
and none posted for tomorrow

These lovely little blooms care not

while these blare their message from huge containers all along 43rd Street

My week-after check up at the eye clinic discovered no problems with pressure or inflammation.  I was on the Clinical Vision Research floor this time, where the stated mission is "to develop new and improved methods to correct and prevent vision loss"

The amazing eye is amazing

So this is the new lens implanted where the old cloudy one used to be.  See that grayish-white thing with the pink flush just behind the cornea?  It's proteins in some medium.  That's what they cut out and replaced with clear space age plastic and a 'lifetime guarantee', so long as serious accident or disease doesn't interfere.  It really amazes me.
I said that, but resisted "Awesome"

At the month marker in June, one last, and more extensive look to come.  Then I'll be offered a new glasses prescription but may not fill it, since my old reading glasses will suffice until I manage to arrange to do the other eye.

Patients Art is exhibited on all the walls.  This was my favorite

'Untitled' 
by Vitaly Umansky

Updates

(for those who wished to know)

1. Produce find--I knocked on #20s.  A surprised young woman came to retrieve what I'd saved, though she seemed confused.  She was thankful but remained off balance.  Now I know that the two men listed for that apartment don't live there...and one even has another address.  Probably Real estate agents.  She mumbled something about her roommate being someones nephew and it seemed she was just grabbing it off the top of her head.  They'd been away at a wedding all weekend.  She didn't introduce herself.

2. Bypass Surgery--Friend Dennis is wireless and walking with his healing bypass!  They will move him to their rehab unit soon.
He's even talking about getting back to work!