mourning sight from my upper bunk
DC women working quiet night
long legs criss crossing 11th and K
curving along
yellow cabs catching, departing
hard working
drifting sleep I count them
five corner keeping time
two corners
one smoking hot waves
shifting all night
even when dawn church covers
last calls 7:30 am
hard heels holding down corner grounds
hurt hard eyes streetward we greet each other passing
sisters surviving
wishing fresh boiling hot coffee for sharing
relief shifts end
Leslie White has been kind enough to provide her painting inspired by my poem. It is much more colorful than the images of my memory yet it portrays a certain essence of the poem as felt by Leslie.
"five on corner" by Leslie White
For more of what Leslie Paints –and her very candid commentary regarding her creative process regarding this particular painting, please visit:
http://lesliepaints.wordpress.com/2010/01/18/five-on-the-corner/#comment-2436
om mani padme hum jewel in the lotus wahupa qi prana universal life energy
47whitebuffalo's Blog 
Half Pint said,
February 12, 2010 at 3:35 am
Absolutley beautiful, both the poem and the painting.
47whitebuffalo said,
February 23, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Hey there Half Pint! Nice of you to visit and enjoy the creative dishes. Almost missed your post! Do you mind if I inquire if ‘half pint’ refers to ‘ale’ or ‘cream’?
Thinking « Leslie White said,
February 6, 2010 at 9:59 pm
[…] I am meeting new artist bloggers here and here and here. I have read a poem that touched me here and creative writing that moved me here. I found stunning realism here and carefree abstract […]
47whitebuffalo said,
February 23, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Hey Painting Woman, will catch up with you soon. How’s the art in your gallery of late?
Five on the Corner « Leslie White said,
January 19, 2010 at 1:36 am
[…] weeks ago I visited Eva’s blog and found this poem titled “1:37am sleepless”. I was impressed and commented because it brought sights and sounds and movement alive for me […]
The Juicer said,
January 6, 2010 at 3:43 am
This is a surprise- truly enjoyed the poetry! The rhythm you got going there is very infectious.
Happy New Year from NY!
🙂
47whitebuffalo said,
January 6, 2010 at 4:03 am
Hey there, Juicey One. Am curious as to what is the ‘surprise’–the subject or the poetry or ????
It is indeed a NEW year. Does it make it doubly ‘new’ in New York?
–from the muddled midwest–waves
gbaugh said,
January 5, 2010 at 7:37 pm
A sleepless night, Very well written! I felt the night air, the sounds, the women who walked those streets and the church towering over them. You place a few words and conveyed so much;
Favorite line;
“hurt hard eyes streetward we greet each other passing’
Gerardine Baugh
http://gerardinebaugh.wordpress.com/
47whitebuffalo said,
February 23, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Hi Geradine! Hoping to visit/respond to award etc soon! Hope all is well at your end of the blogswamp.
Brad said,
January 4, 2010 at 8:09 am
Brilliant! Like a movie preview with each line as a high definition image that fades in swiftly from the previous image with a “whoosh” sound effect.
47whitebuffalo said,
January 4, 2010 at 11:01 am
Hola Brad. Oo hd poetry..what a cool concept! Thank you for the imaginative thoughts. LOL–“whoosh” indeed. grins
Yousei Hime said,
January 4, 2010 at 4:31 am
Rabbits and buffaloes have the utmost faith in lesliesan!!!! We are most willing to wait! Right, buffalo gal?
47whitebuffalo said,
January 4, 2010 at 5:17 am
We are indeed, Yousei. We are indeed willing to wait.
Yousei Hime said,
January 4, 2010 at 3:58 am
This reminds me of a long ago trip to D.C. It was a college choir tour, and we stayed in a safe-enough-but-in-a-seedy-area hotel. It was rather eye-opening for a girl in the East Texas Baptist University choir. As leslie said, great audible and visual descriptions. I bet she could paint that scene!
47whitebuffalo said,
January 4, 2010 at 5:16 am
LOL–Oh Yousei! I have no doubt that you could write an book about all the eye-openings in DC for the girl in the choir. Oh that could be something….
Gabrielle Bryden said,
January 4, 2010 at 3:50 am
Superb!
47whitebuffalo said,
January 4, 2010 at 5:17 am
merci, gb.
lesliepaints said,
January 4, 2010 at 2:13 am
Wow. This not only leaves me with a picture and a feeling but the sounds and movements of another world. I think it must be hard to capture movement in words, but the way you wrote “yellow cabs catching, departing” brought the street sounds and “long legs criss-crossing……curving along” started the movement. Thanks for sharing this, Eva.
47whitebuffalo said,
January 4, 2010 at 3:36 am
Merci, Leslie who paints inviting warmth. These women have been on my mind ever since I first saw them from the window of the hostel in DC. Thanks for reading.
Do you think you could ‘paint’ them? Seriously–could you paint them based on this poem?
lesliepaints said,
January 4, 2010 at 4:24 am
I will try, but don’t hold your post for it. It will take me some time to figure out a composition and such.
47whitebuffalo said,
January 4, 2010 at 5:15 am
Leslie, whenever your art arrives it will be welcome.