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Summer
Storm
After thunderstorms have cleared the city
of human stains and debris, after the homeless
have abandoned their cardboard palaces, fog
older than Tequesta circles, Seminole arrowheads
and Spanish jars, dulls the sawgrass’s razor,
and slithers over the boulevard I could not cross
when the names Lozano and McDuffie rhymed
with the scent of burning tires, away from
churches with broken steeples
that grow more vacant each Sunday
because their faithful folded their arms
while balseros floundered, boriquas drowned,
and negs joined their sisters and brothers
on the ocean bed. Yet something like music
rises from the sound of the gull’s wings beating a path
over Calle Ocho, Little Haiti, La Sawacera, like the bells
that echo over the Freedom Tower, bright as the final
burst of the sunset against the billboards, gilding the sea
grapes’ leaves washed clean by the evening rain.
Rest
Poem
—For
Nadia
Under
the moss covered leaves,
my sister drags her shadow across
the back of Miami Avenue, her head
brewed in wood smoke, fingers
knotted with the smell of money,
feet bruised by the heat of asphalt.
Rest, little sister
Leave the money in the till, uncounted
the rumpled beds, unmade
the dust in the corners, unswept
Rest, little sister
Rest, your head on the cushion of my shoulder
your arms on the pillow of my chest,
your feet in the cradle of my lap.
Rest little sister, rest.
Moon
Shadow
A transparent moon hovered over my dashboard
while Al Green crooned, "Let's Stay Together"--
the same moon that raked by back
in St Thomas, and sent pelicans into the gap
between Charlotte Amelia and bald peaks
of Gallows Bay--the same moon that hounded
me in Georgia when I was lost in a field,
running deeper and deeper into the South,
the wild grass clinging to my legs,
their small hairs staining my knees and cuffs.
But I refuse to be ruled by her face
anymore,by her tantrums, turning the clouds
crimson, her sudden shifts in mood, crashing
the tides against the rocks. I see her for what she is,
nothing more. And all that I've known
about her is what I've created. So I can ride
this morning and enjoy the scenery, the silent
sawgrass, singing along with the harmony.
Poems
© Geoffrey Philp 2004. All rights reserved.
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Geoffrey
Philp played a game of soccer with Bob Marley, Leghorn and Gilly
Dread back in 1979, in Jamaica. When Geoffrey slipped the ball
through Bob's legs, the reggae legend got very angry. He was
about to kick Geoffrey's ass, but after a lot of staring down,
nothing happened. These days, writes poetry, something that has
made him a happier (and safer) person. He is also Chairperson of
the College Prep Department at Miami-Dade College, North Campus.
He believes that everything should be published on the internet
and that no tree should die in vain. He's rather keen on Marina
Taitt and Ingrid Riley's website Caribarts.
He says that South Florida has given him a broader picture of
the African Diaspora and made him aware of the struggles of his
Haitian, Dominican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, Trinidadian and
Jamaican brothers and sisters in adapting to life in the US. He
gives thanks to the wonderful people of South Florida who helped
and encouraged him over the years: Mitchell Kaplan of Books and
Books, Mary Luft of Tigertail Productions, John Dufresne of FIU,
Vicki Hendricks and Barbra Nightingale of BCC, Michael Hettich,
Josett Peat, Lou Skellings, Lisa Shaw, Ken Boos, Preston Allen,
Gene Tinnie, Alina Interian, Joe McNair and Gina Cortes-Suarez
of Miami-Dade College. He has recently published a novel called Benjamin,
My Son .
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Portrait
of Geoffrey Philp © Henry Denander 2004. All rights reserved.
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Poetry
Michael Rothenberg
Diane Thiel
Nick Carbo
Mia Leonin
Michael Hettich
Campbell McGrath
Kelle Groom
Steve Kronen
Kemel Zaldivar
Pris Campbell
Michael-Earle Carlton
George Murphy
Howard Camner
Geoffrey Philp
Terri Carrion
Nancy Knutson
Jonathan Rose
Barbra Nightingale
Ian Krieger
James Brock
Amy Serrano Zorrilla
Denise Duhamel
Virgil Suarez
Micro-Fiction & Shorts
Terri Carrion
Diane Thiel
Artists
Artist Intro
Ivonne Bess
Diego Quiros
John Canning
Jeff Filipski
Arlene Magloire
Cassandra
Gordon-Harris
Holly Picano
TRES
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Terri Carrion
Richard Blanco
Interviews
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