Aretha, Marvin
and Smokey form
the Rushmore Mount
of soul
James Brown
the elder statesman
Etta James
her voice of gold
Prince and
Jimmy Ruffin
there standing in
the wings
Curtis Mayfield
‘It’s All Right’
The Windy City
brings
Al Green
is for the ladies
with fantasy
in song
Glady’s Knight
the smoothest silk
with Ben E. King
along
Levi Stubbs
and Martha Reeves
still warming up
out back
As Stevie Wonder
and Michael J
keep soul’s love train
— on track
(Memory Of The O’Jays At The Uptown Theater: April, 1971)
Sin City
Ancient City
Hidden City
City Underground
Windy City
Second City
White City
New City
City of Tomorrow
Waking City
Vanishing City
Eternal City
City of God
July 22, 2024
Scurrying people
windy city wind whistling
Wet animals flee
Blue thunder, silver slick streets
Hued blooms close their perfumed rooms.
Lewd Louie came from Windy City
he went straight for the nitty gritty
got fresh with Margo
who told her man Beau
who kicked his a** with rhythmicity
Good morning, O whispering wind.
I hear the sound of your awesome voice,
but I do not understand a word you're saying.
If I Had a recorder, I would document
the sound of your captivating presence.
I would study your arresting melody
and seek to interpret your language.
I have known you in several different ways.
In my retirement years in Central Mississippi,
you are whispering soothingly in unmistakable tones.
In my youthful early years 50 years ago,
across the Great Lakes in Southern Wisconsin
and in the Windy City, you blew me, often with
hostility as I walked along the sidewalks.
For 8 years in San Francisco, in the early mornings,
your Pacific winds blasted me ever so liberally.
In Sacramento, for 35 years, your Delta Breezes
cooled me down from a long and hot summer day.
9:15AM022213PS
Taken by circumstances and not by dreams;
Blown by winds adrift on just any stream;
We grew up together and were the best of friends;
but after high school, he disappeared, drifted away.
Yanzi went with the flow, never planning where to go.
He did not care, and where he was headed, he didn't know.
Boarding a bus along the Mexico Gulf, he went north to Chicago.
A job here and there, he proceeded north to southern Wisconsin.
Yanzi's stay in dairy land was brief. So, he returned to Windy City.
Like drift wood, he floated from town to town. Home was where he roamed.
From the Mid-West Metropolis, Yanzi felt pulled to return to the Gulf. He
was never attracted to the eastern sea board, but the west came calling.
The years passed very fast; nothing would ever last; even Yanzi was aghast.
Now past his prime, never thriving; barely surviving in the city by the Bay.
Yanzi, quiet and easy, a loner and not even a dog he ever had since just a lad.
Up and down the Pacific coast for 30 years till finally, the drifter, Yanzi passed.
090822PS
Fiction
Sidecar Bessie was always ready for a ride.
Her new husband George steering at her side.
They will travel west in a day or so.
She rides like a trooper, her hair all a glow.
She paints it red, thinking it makes her young.
The smell of the country brings a bit of cow dung.
They travel up hills and down against the wind.
Bessie and George happily leaning into each bend.
We’ll go through Illinois and I-Oh-Way
George tells her at six a.m. on sweet Thursday.
She puts her money inside her bra
By Friday they are heading to Omaha.
She has bugs in her teeth and her skin is brown.
She is the finest new bride this side of Chicago Town.
Her husband is showing off their new status as they ride.
Giving her romantic glances, for she is his brand new bride.
They stop in several motels along the way
Finally ending up down Dallas Way.
They visit her relatives, and give them quite a show
Before heading back to the windy city of old Chicago.
Welcome to Chicago!
Where women march like soldiers
in their tennis shoes, wearing their stuffy suits
Welcome to the windy city.
The women dare not wear full skirts.
Their high heels are in their desk drawer
Welcome to the Magnificent Mile
These women’s children are in the suburbs
With babysitters who do not love them.
Welcome to Chicago!
Tired women march out of the train station
holding a handbag or a lunch box, maybe both
Welcome to the Field Museum of Natural History
A place they could bring their children on weekends
But do not want to, because they do not want to come back.
sitting on the corner
in a cold and windy city
I wrote a little verse
I think - more of a ditty
It had a subtle lilt to it
a bit terse – a bit witty
of a troubadour too cold to sing
Oh, Lord, it is a pity
sitting on the corner
3AM - in a windy city
John G. Lawless
©12/9/2021
Chicago skyscrapers are peeking into their lake mirror
Autumn leaves floating around the land so clear
Concrete bridge where people are low voice talking
Squirrels running out in front of joggers who are walking
Leaves of every color on the ground – showing red and gold.
People in the park are finding things to do, both young and old.
Mirrored building is sneaking a peek at herself in nature’s mirror
When we are here, none of us feel much fear.
This is a safe place if you grew up in the windy city.
We are loving it as much as we can; our knowledge is pretty
We have culture and the Bears and fancy pizza too.
Best of all, when you are here, you are close to the zoo.
Three am In the Windy City. Mother nature reminding them she gave them the nickname. Out of the darkness a surprise came. An angel large in stature also black, operating a Chicago vehicle jack. Wind howling, waves crashing into the seawall, on Lakeshore Drive, for a moment didn’t know if rear ended, I would survive. My left drive wheel had zero pressure, The car was stuck. The reason I called him an angel, because he had my back.Can’t ask anything more the that. Hooked up my car and delivered it to safety, asking nothing in return, just happy to operate the Jack. Made my drive poetic, and inspiration to write a verse. When people demonstrate kindness, Expecting nothing in return, opens the door for inspiration, makes the insides churn. Maybe helping for the sake of it, we all should learn.
Come on! He urged Cameron. I’m your friend, aren’t I?
Cameron’s fear was showing. He did not want to die.
It’s my dad’s favorite thing, much more valuable than me.
But it was Ferris Beuller and he had intimidation velocity.
So they took the red Ferrari off the pedestal of his Dad.
And they drove it a few miles through Chicago big and bad.
They stopped at school to pick up Sloane, Ferris’s fine queen.
They had a day in the windy city such as Cameron had never seen.
His fear held him hostage, finally sent him into paralyzed mode.
This did not stop his best friend Ferris whose ideas were pure gold.
He and Slone had some near misses, but kept Principal Rooney away.
Actually Rooney ended up being chased by a sister and dog that fine day.
John Hughes, the wonder writer of the eighties, created this movie.
He wrote and directed, and walked on for a small part, not as a juvie.
It brought in seventy million in ’86, not bad for a teen film that day.
Ferris Beuller’s Day off will at the top of my favorite list always stay.
I glanced at him on his knees, donning tears and a robe.
Wiping bullets and blood off the streets.
He slowly made his way toward the broken business zone.
A worn carpenter's belt in tow.
A soft light was around him.
The crowd began to grow.
He helped the last hatter board up his store.
A nail between his teeth.
Broken glass and bottle caps
played taps to a windy city beat.
He placed a few signs in the ground.
That said, vote for candidate faith, believe in the divine.
His time was up; it was time for him to go.
Once again, he was called back home.
As he left, he turned around and simply said.
"Love one another... greatly".
Known to be a windy city, but it was not windy that NIGHT.
It seemed the weather and everything was just RIGHT.
I was excited about taking her home, and we were all ALONE.
It was a perfect place to show we both were STRONG.
We both desired and believed we had a good FUTURE,
and now was the time to prove that we were MATURE.
I left her home feeling I was on top of the WORLD.
One big kiss from one beautiful GIRL.
A kiss like none I had ever KNOWN,
and it lifted me higher than I'd ever FLOWN.
It was STEAMING, and I wasn't DREAMING.
It was a moment I wanted to last FOREVER, but
we had to calm down, because we both were BELIEVERS.
50 years ago, it was windy but not in the usual way; and though the day was slowly departing, she was still casting her light; and the evening star was creeping forth, but I was being blown away,
not by weather wind, but by the stormy winds of an awesome kiss.
091120PSCtest, A Night Of Passion And Desire, Faraz Ajmal. 8P
BFN JHD gangster or celebrity
Side of the ride Having fun
Q the smoking Tommy gun
Slick suits and boots wide brimmed hats
Banks go down around these cats
No fear of law no fear at all
Do what they want until they fall
did they all go out in a blaze of glory
Or was there end a different story
Dodging bullets dogging feds
Mega bucks upon there heads
Were they greedy were they lazy
Born to steal or just plan crazy
The Windy City not so pretty
Shootings beatings tough and gritty
live life fast and pay the price
were they naughty were they nice
no remorse and no regret
happy with the end they met
always there for us to see
Their written into history
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