If there was ever a Parallel Parking Olympics
it’d be in South Philly
cars jam into microscopic spots
enough to cause anxiety
but you, with your back-up camera
squeeze in like it’s no big deal
this shit is real!
parking spots are like gold
circle the block like a vulture
starving, on the prowl
maybe you’ll get lucky
find a spot front-and-center
(Photo by Cali Riffee on Unsplash)
The river meanders
dividing line of Philly & Jersey
fog drifts off blue-black water
on the way to the concert
you can hear music reverberate
feel chilly breeze on your skin
men & women pulsing with
sexual energy
some of them tipsy
touch my hand
tell me you understand
let me know I’m alive –
the warmth of your body
the coldness of steel handlebars
ready for a night of euphoria
(Photo by Matt Power on Unsplash)
The neighbor talks to me as she tends her vegetable garden –
she talks at me is more like it; I hardly get a word in, you see.
She says, “All Lives Matter;” I bite my tongue,
let her ramble, not knowing what’s bouncing in that brain.
Continue readingI love my city, the city of Philadelphia
I grew up outside your limits, near you in the ‘burbs
amazed by your skyscrapers, watching from
grandma’s steps in the shadow of St. Monica’s –
you aren’t always pretty, but you’re a city
with pride and spunk, attitude and funk,
the engine of our region with a legion of fans –
behind the cheesesteaks and Rocky Balboa,
we know how much heart you have and
even if we speak rough and act tough,
underneath this grime and slime,
you have a whole lotta love inside.
(Photo of a mural in Philly from the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance)
Heavy boxes stacked in the bedroom,
you’re moving again, amid the pandemic.
We’ll see another part of Philly, add to
the memories we’ve made – even if we’ll
be wearing masks and hunkering down.
We’ll find a new coffee shop, we’ll walk new
streets, taking pictures every so often
that’ll be in a book next year that celebrates
our time together.
(Photo by Josh Hild on Unsplash)
I love Philly. I grew up in the area, and I have a lot of pride in the city. Philly has an incredible Mural Arts program that funds and creates beautiful murals throughout the city. There’s also tons of random art, like this wall of graffiti near a parking lot in the Old City neighborhood.
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Here’s a picture I took a couple of weeks ago while walking around Philly with Rachel and Nico. During our walks, we noticed several Black Lives Matter signs – some drawn on the sidewalk like this one, and others propped in the windows of houses.
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Here’s a picture I took last night while walking around the city with Rachel. It was nice to see this after all the violence and chaos that’s been in the news lately. Many of the protests in Philly have been much more peaceful lately, after starting off with a lot of tension.
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