Community Outreach -The Public is the Number One Enemy

DafCU

“Beauty and the Beast” – Wilkinsburg, PA

The following poem was written about one year ago… It was written during an event that occurred on my street in Wilkinsburg… This event was the ultimate reason my wife and I decided to move out of Wilkinsburg… CBS WTAE – The following poem is dedicated to the memory of Bruce Kelly Jr. – I do not believe he deserved to die… I think it is sad that 24 highly trained police officers could not subdue a drunk man with a knife…

I am scared… Scared of the community I live in…

Not for the crime… The thugs drugs or gangs…
Not for the fact that a black bandana hangs…
Off the face of a young man… Inner city common unity…
The colors of my neighborhood… A forgotten community…

I dream of death and destruction… I dream of violent scenes…
Gun shots and crack rocks are the subject of ghetto dreams…
Abandoned homes like leaning gravestones… Waiting to be sold…
Outnumbering the homeless who are sleeping in the cold…

I am scared of a thin blue line… Thugs with authority…
Thugs that hate the general public and are willing to kill a minority…
Urban blight is a product of officially shunning gumption……
The goal is to board up enough to dilute the real corruption…

We are all enemies of the state… We are on the wrong side of the line…
We all share in the fact that our lives are worth less than a k9…
The first amendment is a joke… We only have rights in silence…
To open your mouth is nothing more than an invite to violence…

Police station threshold is where the daily war begins…
Inside the temple the soldiers discuss their win… The war against us…
The war against the general public… Public enemy number one…
Your money paid for the bullet that killed you… It even paid for the gun…

plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello

 

farm4

“Green Fields” – The Barn at Soergel Hollow – Evans City, PA – This photograph was taken the week my wife and I were watching our friends farm… It was also the week we decided to get married… Also the place where we got married…

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13 1/2 – Another Star Falls

"Sunshine and the Solstice" - Frick Park - Pittsburgh, PA - The first glimmer of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy day... Winter Solstice... It wont be long now before Spring awakens...

“Sunshine and the Solstice” – Frick Park – Pittsburgh, PA – The first glimmer of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy day… Winter Solstice… It wont be long now before Spring awakens…

This has been sitting in my notebook for a few weeks now… I revisit it every few days… I considered not publishing it due to language concerns… But the more I read it… Well… The more I like it…

Another star falls…
Falls from the flag and crashes into the earth…
Missouri burning… Misery ends with a peaceful ideas birth…

Before we can think we take off and run…
Just us… The cops… God and a gun…
Under a blood-red sky we bolt to the east…
Anyone who runs is considered a beast…

We are all thought of as the general public…
One god… One judge… Twelve jurors… Fuck it…
We are all considered public enemy number one…
Freedom is relative… Freedoms price is a gun…

Another man falls…
Falls from the throne and crashes into the streets…
Missouri’s heart is beating… Misery ends in mental defeat…

Riot in the city against the military machine…
Soon a tax-funded rain will scrub the streets clean…
Riots or looting… It doesn’t matter what you call it…
The only thing that matters is if you vote with your wallet…

Keep your nose clean… Keep your mind wide open…
Keep away from those who never stop coping…
13 1/2… That’s one judge… Twelve members of the jury…
And the half percent chance of walking free without a worry…

plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello

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Cherry Blossom Highway

CherryBlossomHighway

“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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