the muse is up late

and she is not taking no for an answer

i am almost finished with one poem and finished this tidbit that came from an exercise roger threw out.

btw, this is not an exclusive club. go to rog’s journal over at rogerbonair.com and you will get all kinds of writing exercises, reading recommendations and early poems.

From: "Roger Bonair-Agard"

Date: Sat Feb 1, 2003 12:21 pm

Subject: write muthafuckas! write!

here's your writing exercise. bring it to bar 13 on monday or the monday

after that or the one after that...

which night is yours? what part of the dark belongs to you?

SPECTRUM

i’m holding a beer bottle high in the air

to distillate the colors of the night

as i toast the urban forest

a train rolls by

flashing sparks alongside the el

and i see my place

in the orange glow of streetlights

this is the only darkness

i have ever known

where god shines down

like the empire state building

dressed in hues of green

and still means

that the ambulances

are obeying streetlights

and silent means

that the cops

are using batons

i avoid the stark luminance

of blue lights imitating day

and run under constellations

of apartment lights

dancing across the bricks

of tenements

sometimes hiding in the gray

of shadows that give shortened

breaths a chance to reclaim lungs

and get ready to bounce to the next

row of penumbras guiding me through

rows of late night gas stations

and bulletproof revolving trays

ready for that next forty

life lines that tell me

i am never more lost

than when i am comfortable

in the dark