The End of a Friend of a Friend

An ordinary looking couch set off on an extra-ordinary mission
the couch has served the community well
had many good homes that took care of it
kept it's thin out-dated upholstery clean
therefore retro and not old

How many homes have you had?
how many apartments and friends has this couch survived
only now at the end of it's loyal career to be sent on a suicide mission

Next Stop: Brandon's place
Mission: reinforce the central seating arrangement
last weekend's drunken rage has the futon in a state of disrepair

Oh faithful sofa, did you foresee your end
after a life of calm you're going out "kamikaze"
like an ashtray
a textile sculpture mummified in a cheetah skin of cigarette blim burns

Goodbye. You served your sitters well

Mid-East Politics Speakers

Author David Lamb speaks to Tyler Marshall's Middle East Politics class at the Corcoran College of Art. He has written a couple national bestsellers, and The Arabs, one of the texts for our course.

. . .

Alireza Jafarzadeh came to a previous class to speak about the Iranian Nuclear Program. He is an expert on the subject.

Bridge Street Books, Mar 5

Bridge Street Books
a beautiful book store
across the bridge

Once a month I go to the readings there
(sometimes less)
to see the poets read their stuff
(sometimes more)

Ben and Tim came in from out of town
they are poets from north of here
both from far north of here
(one far further north than the other)

When they came to read their poems
they came with cameras:

one large and clunky
(took obscenely-coordinated snapshots)

one small in a pocket
(saved it's findings in a binary batch)

Tim and Ben used science-magic

to type poems into our ears
they used voices

We took their books away
because it's quainter to remember
(using older technology)

96 to 06

a decade of change

ten years of the same

three thousand, six hundred and three days

Good Friday 2006

Ed
Arrive: Washington, D.C.
for the three-day, Good Friday Weekend
from Pittsburgh

Via Denver
working at the auto parts store
cab driving on the weekends

Via Queens
installing alarm systems in skyscrapers
became married w/no kids

"Hey,
I haven't seen you for eight years!"

To: Joe Marquette/AP

Gossiping over beers at the end of the table
your name came up in a real-life fable

You weren't a hare, or tortise, or boar
your persona took form as a sweaty condor

The Secret Lives of Writers

At the Bethesda Writers' Center author Robert Long talks about his book Kandinsky's Bicycle. He also said that folks in his day used to drink a lot more than nowadays. (Many suspect Long just feels more comfortable at home, these his last remaining nights on earth.)


Other Secrets of Bethesda

Also, you may find it hard to believe Casey Smith teaches a class called Sunday Values, afternoons in Bethesda.

Alcoholympics

Flip Cup


Ice Luge


Beer Pong


Committee Members

AKA Dave Winter's Birthday

On Dave With-The-Nose-Ring's birthday we celebrated large
He had a photo gallery opening
and handed out his cards

After the gallery opening we all took him out for beers
His friends came up from R-Town
they had the good Cuban cigars

And because it was Dave's birthday
We drank and puffed cigars
He had a flask we drank from so our bill wasn't too large

When night drew to a close
Our party all went home
but it wasn't Dave's birthday at all (so why'd I write this poem?)

Wendy's B-Day

'Cause it was Wendy's B-Day we all met at Cafe Asia
We ate some asian food
We drank some asian beers

Though it was Wendy's B-Day
We had to go to class
Andy Grundberg asked us photo questions
That kicked our photo-knowledge ass

After class on Wendy's B-Day we decided to go eat
Crystal City Restuarant is where we all would meet

The restuarant was a gentlemans' club
The girls were nearly nude

I looked at Kevin
He looked at me,
"THIS IS WENDY'S BEST B-DAY EVER DUDE!"