Thursday, June 11, 2009

Poetry During the Recession















This morning I walked to Massachusetts Avenue, to my local bagel place to buy bagels and cream cheese for my poetry group and found these signs in the window.  Next door, there was a for-rent sign stuck on the window of the bakery and restaurant, Sweet Sue's, now out of business.  

The Starbuck's in Arlington Center, a few blocks away, is advertising special deals on coffee; a shoe shop, and the Rio, the Brazillian restaurant, have both closed.  Shops put out racks of clothing on the sidewalk to attract customers.  The library is full of people reading newspapers. The cost of the daily New York Times is $2.00.  

I may be cutting my own hair and shopping at thrift shops but I'm not giving up buying bagels for my poet friends. We ate as we read each other's poems and offered suggestions.  These sessions are always helpful.  I have three new poems: "Teens," "Sea Urchins," and "Lychee Nuts."  They need a little tinkering, which I'll get to soon.  One of JD's poems begins, "The boy plays the piano/ as if he's learning to masturbate."  A poem by AF begins, "The first poem I sold/ I bought a pair of shoes."  So poets lavishly spend their time.  



10 comments:

  1. Hi-You might want to check out qarrtsiluni...an online poetry journal focusing on "economy" as its theme.

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  2. Thanks for the tip, Pam. I've been thinking of the different ways of spending.

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  3. Have you driven through Lexington Center lately? It looks half empty- so many businesses have closed!

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  4. Oh, am I ever back! Where are the palm trees? Locked up inside houses.

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  5. Would you believe that I have never tasted a bagel? Never.

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  6. I recommend Iggy's bagels, available at Whole Foods up here in Massachusetts, or H and H Bagels on Broadway, upper Westside, Manhattan.

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  7. Or bypass bagels altogether and head for Kossar's Bialys on Grand St., NYC.

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  8. Iggy’s are the best, never kvatchic, unlike many supposedly authentic “New York” bagels. Go to: www.iggysbread.com/ for locations, including the bakery on Fawcell St. in Cambridge. Even if you never get to Massachusetts, the website is terrific. You can choose from several audio tracks of Russian/Jewish/Gyspsy (?) music as you peruse.

    Kvatchic? Remember when George Costaza's father (Jerry Stiller) dug out the nasty, doughy part of the bagel he was preparing? That's because if was Kvatchic.

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  9. Kvatchic! I haven't heard that word for a while, Bluedog, and never have seen it printed. I come from a family that regularly complained when the bread was "kvatchic." I took it to mean "soggy." Like George I dig out the soft parts and go for the crust. I'll check out the Iggy site.

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