THE TYPEWRITER PROJECT

The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15

a sign pointing both east and westspun he waited for it to stillit never stopped

The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15

I talked untill my whispers turen d to screams but still noone see med to liste n. Untill one day I heard a voice and that voice was my own, That day I learned that my screaming shouting and crying voice were as quiet as whisper. I le arned it did not matter much, the loudness of my voice but instead whether or not I could hear it.

The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15

There are a few alternate realities that I often like to play with. To put itinto context, i,m a slender black man in his mid thirties but I can vividly

picture what it,d be like to be a twenty year old white girl. Its' amzing how

with no effort I can float into another foreign body. My most common fantasy

is that i work at some sort of shop, or maybe an ice cream cart and I;m bored a lot.

I pretend I spend a lot of time reading hoping something amazing

will happen to be, perhaps the store will get robbed or i,ll be the witness

to some elaborate government scheme, but most of my day involves smiling

at people who dont really notice me. This oddly feels comforting; as if

falling out of my body has somehow granted me a respite from being at times

intimidating.

The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15

re adingExcited to use a real typewriter

The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15

Today I woke upand fell in love with my husband all over again.Happy Pride to the world. I hope evryone is as lucky as I am to fall in

love with my best friend. I Love You Jonn...Joey

The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15

Sitting in tompkins square park typing on a typewriter.I love typewriters!

DONT BE SCARED OF MAKING MISTAKES OR HAVING ADVENTURE

The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15

i am too. i imagine that I am not alone. That i can be a success. That i am not the failure my family expects me to be. So I pretend too. imagine i am other than myself. That i am confident and strong and ideal. but i am scared and lonely and trapped in my fear and insecurities. someone free ,me. someone tell me how to be. how does everyone know how to be? where did they learn? how can i be more like that? i wish i knew the right way. or maybe i should stop complaining and buck up. i am a work in progess...

uncertain, confused, often terrified...

i wonder what my 40-year-old self would say to me...

i sure could use the advice.

The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15

T here is alwas a voice in your mind tellng you that you need to do something but you might not want to do what it tells you to do. Sometimes you can not hear it but sometimes you can. a lot of the time you don,t know if it is your voice or someone esles. So people never find out.

The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15

weather the stor mdAfter the storm, a rainbow glows

the rbin sings.

after the pain of hate,

love

keep looking for the words to respond

The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15

A mood is presented. being unfamiliar with it drives a candle down my throat. my stomach stifles with burning ends.

The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15

Robin Parker: I live on E 7TH ST. and I am being harassed for two years from dog poisoning to building harassment I am looking for every kind of situation, every government official to help me, but they've let me down. Mayor Rosie Mendez has been notified about the situation with dog poisoning and neglected my needs. 9TH pre cinct is investigating it now and after two tears they're going to help me. One of my dogs had to be sent uptown to save her life. She had to have half of her teeth removed because of dog poisoning I could use any help I could get. The names of the board members who are trying to kill my dogs are P. W., S. W., and J. T.

The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15

The afternoon mist the quiet and serinety, the typewriter in a publicwindow and all the typos...made me weep--not the sad kind--the kind

that sleeps deep within you now awakened.

The beauty of it all. To life

The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15

all day i am pushed around and sat on-the chair

The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15

how do i begin.. this typewriter came at a perfect time when i was lookingfor one to use. i am pklanning to get a t attoo of a movie quote i particularly love that speaks volumes to me, and i need a typewriter to get

the ink right/ you may know the film almost famous. in rthe last scene, and the last line

russell finally comes to see william, thinking he is coming to visit peg

penny.

william dfinally has the chance to ask, and get an honest answer to the

question,what do you love about music//...and russell answers..

to begin with, everything.

The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15

no union is moreprofound than marriage, for it embodies the highestideals of love , fidelity, devotion, sacrificd and family. In forming a marital union , two people become something greater than once they wer

As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marrisge embodies

a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men

and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that

they do repect it, respect so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment

for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness

excluded froom one of civilizatiobs oldest institutions. They ask for

equal dignity in thes eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that

right.

The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/28/15

Now write upon the wall a sonnet; thereNext to the woman trappeed in paper,s doom.This place may be bare, but look, she is there-

squeezed out by the boundaries of this room.

feel fear's gentle and embracing caress,

In the lines that are so few to adhere.

The poet knows the ever-nagging stress

Of thd forms confines that glaringly sneer

In the face of bold creativity.

Now see beyond what the paper sees:

Give in and foster fancy fantasies.

Yet what fool indulges this insanity? He corrupts himself to yellow wallpaper,

Trappedw within margins of misconception.

The Poetry Society of New York 6/27/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/27/15

homeless for years cause of drug addiction found my way to a Now life is better i am free from the shackles of addiction free to live my life

On this rain day when i was high i would of hated everything but because

of a and my new found freedom life is grand i even on a cloud day

so now im sobriety i have a life i am employable i work for my self for

many years i thought the world was out to get me now i know that because

i survived many years of destructive behaviors that i was being watched over thank u

The Poetry Society of New York 6/27/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/27/15

On June 26th the clouds parted and sunlight poured down on those who had been huddled in darkness; cold, scared, alone.On June 26th 2015, The Supreme Court of the United States parted the clouds and in the light we saw that we are not alone.

The Poetry Society of New York 6/27/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/27/15

Heaven knows, where we<ll go?finding yourself might mean losing all else

just make sure you look good

The Poetry Society of New York 6/27/15 The Poetry Society of New York 6/27/15

Tompkins Square Park HaikuSitting with my son

This rainy day. Trying hard

To listen, encourage