Morning Reflections – Daylight after Night

“Morning Reflection” – Keystone State Park – Westmoreland County, PA

Orange glow of the street lights emanate after dark…
Indian style on cold concrete… A contrasting remark…
Heaven is to the north… And hell is in the Deep South…
Poison is pointless unless you put it in your mouth…

Daylight is for the good… The evil roam the night…
Without darkness there would be no concept of light…
Darkness provides the cover for those who take a stand…
Government is nothing more than a rights restricted brand…

Shadows from the clouds sweep across the green hills…
Air is sweet like the steam of a working moonshine still…
Embers burning… Eyes discerning… Moonlight on the water…
Some plants we grow as food… Others are simply fodder…

We are on the ground but our spirits are among the crows…
A seed in the hand does nothing… But in the soil it grows…
When the strong bear arms the weak begin fleeing…
Weapons are possessions we intentionally bring to being…

Tonight I light a candle to illuminate the black of dark…
A tree will die without protection from its wrinkled bark…
Brick by brick we build them up until they crumble down…
The strong know when to smile… The weak can only frown…

plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello

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In the Dark – Stay Outside and Play

“In the Dark” – Whitney Avenue – Wilkinsburg, PA

I am but a tiny being on this massive rock… I am a rock…
I am but an observant soul… Lost… Looking for a way to be found…
Looking for a way to ask for something I can’t define…
Looking for that elusive sign… Looking for myself…
Searching through the darkness…
Realizing I am of the darkness…

All is well… Everything is just peachy…
My lie of a smile denies you the real me…
Blue skies combined with yellow clouds in gray…
Evenings approach ushers in another orange day…
Another day of labor… Another day in the heat…
Another day I didn’t wave the white flag of defeat…

“Ninebark at Night” – Whitney Avenue – Wilkinsburg, PA

I am a fighter… I am on the outside one-percent…
And I have no desire to come inside…
I have no desires because my addictions took them away…
Fingerprint ID and the mug shot to display…
That is why I garden… That is why I plant seeds…
That is why I consider you when figuring for my needs…

I am not equal to anyone… I am six-feet below you…
I am staring up at the ground looking for a new view…
Looking for a way to erase these horrid memories…
Looking for a way to find peace with my enemies…
Looking for a way to find peace with myself…
With my memories… With my past… With you…

plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello

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November Evening – Autumn Dreams

“November Evening” – Whitney Avenue – Wilkinsburg, PA

Sixty-eight magical degrees…
November evening autumn dreams…
Maples yellow rolling thunder…
Life is full of natural wonder…
Still the leaves are holding back…
Seeds still germinate in the cracks…
Cotton clouds cover the burning sun…
Believe this front could be the one…
To end this spell the start of winter…
Indian summer a little splinter…
Before our next coat of white…
Fall has surely fought the fight…
Daylight quickly fades to dark…
Signals trees to bear their bark…
Farmers harvest hardy crops…
Four short months till spring snowdrops…

plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello

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Paved Waves – Asphalt Creeping

“Asphalt Creeping” – © chriscondello 2013 – Vassar Way – Wilkinsburg, PA – So many textures and patterns… I could hardly contain myself… The wavy new asphalt interacting with hundred year old bricks… And a concrete gutter… An urban timeline…

Block after block… Outlined in black… Highlighted in gray… Urban sprawl… City night call… Orange tones and abandoned house bones… Sights… Sounds… And alley cat moans… Creeping through the darkness… Lit by the lightning bugs… Flying through my mind…

Jasmine blossoms bless the air… Scented lily’s… Citrus blooms… All combine in my backyard room… Raise the bar on my scarred soul… Enhances energy… Enlightens life… Brightens the darkness… Fuels the light… Currently all my energy… Comes from flowers of white… Scented dreams… Scented memories…

Streets lined in gardens… Hell strips converted to heavens… Scented herbs beneath my feet… Impossible to miss if you park on the street… Sunflowers hide the telephone poles… These should be everyone’s goals… Simply don’t ask permission… It’s a guaranteed no… It will probably mess with the traffic flow…

Even after all the rhymes and theory… People apparently don’t seem to hear me… Plant a garden… Or a tree… Do it without asking… Do it for free… Or get paid… Regardless… Just do something… Something for you… Something for me… Something for the land… Or something for the sea…

Promote life…

plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello

I now have prints of some of my work available here – http://society6.com/chriscondello – If you would like a print of a photo not listed… Just ask…

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Silent Misconception

“Selfy” – Sculpture – © chriscondello 2013 – Frick Park – Pittsburgh, PA – Created on 4/7/2013 and destroyed on 4/7/2013 – As soon as I saw this log… I knew I needed a big stone… My natural self-portrait…

Tonight… Silence… Well… Relative silence…
Silent enough to hear the footsteps…
Slowly creeping down the alley…
Gravel crunching… Moving towards me…
Cell phone blaring inaudible sounds…
Easing closer to my yards bounds…

And then the music stops…

I know in a moment… Shots will ring out…
This is probably some gangsters scout…
Then the phone rang… What did he do…
Answered it… Hello mom… How are you…
When the call ended… He said…

Yes ma’am… I know…
I love you…
Too…

plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello

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Cherry Blossom Highway

“Cherry Blossom Highway” – © chriscondello 2013 – Walnut Street – Wilkinsburg, PA – I remembered to get it… I had planned to do more… But the wind erased my canvas immediately following this photo…

I wrote this two days ago… May 2nd… Didn’t think I would post it… But I am… I was sitting on my back porch observing and writing… When shots rang out… I attempted to write-through it… 

This is how many of my poems begin… It is observational notes I take to try to spark a poem… After reading this… I decided to post it as is… Hope you enjoy…

May 2, 2013

Warm spring in the moonlight… Evening pleasantries…
Breeze smells of lilac… One of the warmer spring scents…
Cherry blossoms float through the sky…
Dandelion floaters lift up high…
Then fall into my backyard…

Warm days don’t equal warm nights…
But that won’t stop me…
As the smoke flows in the street light glow…
I plan for my cherry blossom highway…

The ground beneath my feet begins to shake…
Preparing for a metaphysical earthquake…

Shots fired… 12:12 AM – 11 or 12 of them… Sounded like just a block or two away… Maybe Rebecca Avenue and Center Street…

Now my senses are wide awake…
As I wait for a reply…
Shouting and screaming…
Silenced with the sound…

Sirens scream through the night…
Orange glow is now just light…
The night no longer celebrates…
The silence makes me contemplate…

Where do the good spirits go?..
Why can I no longer find them?..

Man makes me question the presence of God…
But nature always answers…

I will find my peace tomorrow…
Goodnight…

plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello

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Experience

Spring sounds in the city night…
The world wakes up in silence…
Rarely do we experience peace…
Rarely do we experience life…
Rarely do we experience…
Experience…

Summer sounds in the city night…
Just as loud as the forest silence…
Rarely do we experience peace…
Rarely do we experience life…
Rarely do we experience…
Experience…

Autumns breeze in the city night…
Cuts through the suburban silence…
Rarely do we experience peace…
Rarely do we experience life…
Rarely do we experience…
Experience…

Winters freeze in the city night…
This is what I call silence…
Rarely do we experience peace…
Rarely do we experience life…
Rarely do we experience…
Experience…

peace – chriscondello

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Free Range Man

Free Range – Acrylic on Canvas – 16″ x 20″

Darkness apparently eludes me…
For all my windows are bright…
Is it really too much to ask…
People respect the night…

Light penetrates the window pane…
Can’t even sleep in a chair…
Construction lights are super bright…
But no one seems to care…

Consideration of habitual relocation…
Lay mans, it’s time to move…
Pack a bag and hit the road…
My tattered soul approves…

Always been a free range man…
I need more room to grow…
Looking for my promised land…
Where milk and honey flow…

Make my gardens as far as wide…
As diverse as they can be…
Put them in a massive yard…
For all of you to see…

So I’ll just sit here in the light…
Though our lamps are dark…
Dream about the future…
My endless question mark…

peace – chriscondello

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The Orange Glow Of The Night

The last of the leaves are being blown from the trees… Winter has finally arrived… The chill of the night is sharply enhanced by the wind… Thirty mile per hour gusts… And the first snow i have seen this season… Life is simple… Life is grand… Life is peachy…

The essence of the late night atmosphere—however you choose to look at it—is really about heightened awareness… The obvious lack of sight awakens your other senses… Take a moment and listen to the natural rhythm of your surroundings… Once the melody is established… Foreign noises will jump out of the sound scape… Disturbance of the rhythm… Is a disturbance of the natural peace… A foreign being… A predator… how true to life…

Tonight I am not alone… Neighbors cat… And the sound of the wind… Snowflakes in the orange street lights… And that oh so familiar constant dog barking in the distance… Winter in Wilkinsburg is something else… No one screaming… No one fighting… Just me…

Some abandoned houses whistle in the wind… Loose boards clap… And old floors moan… The wind-blown leaves rustling on the ground… Are what bind the song together… A song that you would never hear… Unless you took the time to stop what you are doing… And let nature teach you… Be ready to listen… And always be willing to learn…

nature is the ultimate artist – chriscondello

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