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Desire Street
September, 1996
cyberspace chapbook of
The New Orleans Poetry Forum
established 1971
Desire, Cemeteries, Elysium
Listserv: DESIRE-Request@Sstar.Com
Email: Nancy Cotton, Editor
ncotton350@aol.com
Mail: Andrea S. Gereighty, President
New Orleans Poetry Forum
257 Bonnabel Blvd.
Metairie, La 70005
Publisher: Robert Menuet
Copyright 1996, The New Orleans Poety Forum
(8 poems for September, 1996)
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Contents:
Bellevue Farewell
Digital Bliss
First Womankiss
Gris-Gris
After Your Leave-taking
Seascape
Shades of New Orleans: Summer
Visiting Day
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Bellevue Farewell
by Barbara Lamont
I left you
on that steel table
walked down the
cold green halls
smelling lye
and fear
I pulled your plaid
wool scarf tight
around my neck
as the snow fell
and turned to mush
oozing between my bare toes
That bleak March night
on First Avenue
staring at barred windows
revolving beacon mirrors
in a black sky
I placed a red rose between my teeth
to celebrate your freedom.
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Digital Bliss
by kevin R. johnson
...is a state of reduction
of the incurable future (raw data),
hope: an easy-to-use online organizer
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wish words would flush away like
throw-up, I delete them instead
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"Do you like the way I feel?": the speakers ask
air-conditioned hands fondle empty air
the glow of her curled ribbons
touch 16 million colors
"Ravage me
Ooh...
you're good"
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names scroll past eyes trained to ignore
screen-glare, searching for hidden files
---------
statistics indicate soon I will need to up-
grade my storage capacity, my memory, my life
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outside, the moon is in ruins & a storm is coming;
I will taste the rain & tell someone about it with
my fingers
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First Womankiss
by Clara C. Connell
Thinking of her again -- that olive-skinned stranger --
I drove madly to the place
where the tattooed women dance
and drink Blackened Voodoo beer.
She was at the bar
wearing her grandfather's brown hat,
narrow-eyed and smoking like a poet in process.
Expecting me, of course.
With practiced eyes and her newest poem,
she lured me to her dark corner.
I laughed so hard at her jokes
I thought of killing myself.
Begging for her stale attention like an orphan,
I groped and searched and smelled,
her relaxed beauty mocking my
fumbling eagerness to know.
At her bidding, we kissed --
And I knew.
She never took off her hat.
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Gris-Gris
by Andrea S. Gereighty
A door that's barred
A bed rumpled
A sea-slow Sunday
Your words wash me
Listen to the howlings:
The winds misinterpret
all that we are.
The flick of your tongue,
the wind lifts
everything into place.
You nestle between my breasts
I hear buoy bells
The music of distance.
You trace words through my hair
Phrases flow from your fingers
Your hands move metaphors
up my thighs
nearer the source.
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After Your Leave-taking
by Nancy Cotton
Our relative
Existence will be a theory,
Discovered
By strangers who chart
The astronomical
Distance between us,
Imaginary points of reference,
Clear,
Yet incomprehensible,
Like raisins (raison d'etre)
In jello.
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Seascape
by Cedelas Hall
With the strength
of the moon
pulling tides
to the seashore,
I long to pull
you to me,
let you wash over me,
warm, foamy,
salty seawater.
But I lack the strength
of the moon.
Your love is not
free flowing like the tide.
More like the sand...
stiff, slow moving
withholding
gritty comfort.
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Shades of New Orleans: Summer
by Robert Menuet
Pentecost
Ordinary time:
by all a rain of unseen fire
no tongue will tell
Antoine's
Tournedos Alciatore,
Baked Alaska for two.
Let's go spelunking.
Crossdresser in St. Claude pharmacy
Creole toothache wax;
bolero jacket on sundress;
goosegrease, honey.
Ss. Peter and Paul
Dust on plaster,
incense, beeswax
votives flicker in holy darkness.
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Visiting Day
by Paul Chasse
Cold grey day
Leafless trees lift
arms in naked wonder
Waitng for the snow to fall
Its quiet here
Can you hear me, my love?
'neath this marble stone?
Are you here?
Happy birthday, my love.
See? I brought you roses
They used to make you smile
I wont be here Christmass, my love
I'm moving away
I dont want to leave you here
Alone in the cold ground
But I just cant take
The reminders any more
The park where we walked
Held hands and fed the ducks
The movie theater
where we sat in the dark
Arms around each other
The mountains and canyons
We explored on my bike
I'm going home,my love
I'll miss you
forever
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THE POETS OF DESIRE STREET
Paul Chasse
Clara C. Connell lives in the country with her cat Sniffles. She is a psychotherapist.
Nancy Cotton is an immigration attorney.
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 chapbookBefore 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.
Robert Menuet is a psychotherapist, marital therapist, and
clinical supervisor. Previously he was a social planner.
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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.
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COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Desire Street, September, 1996 Copyright 1996, The New Orleans
Poetry Forum. 8 poems for September, 1996. Message format: 12
messages for September, 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.
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