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Untitled: Lo K. Clayton

Untitled: Lo K. Clayton

devon_riley.jpg

Picnic: Devon Riley

Untitled Series: Savannah Hardman

Of The Planet; In Which They Were Torn: Emmy Hicks-Jablons

Of The Planet; In Which They Were Torn: Emmy Hicks-Jablons

A CROWD OF PARAKEETS IS CALLED PANDEMONIUM

Brash green marauders 
dressed up party goers 
feathery treetop clique,

 

linger like teenagers 
trolling each other 
not ready to go home.

 

Unloved by many 
because of the shitting 
there’s also the thieving.

 

I love their F-U-ing 
they don’t care who sees them, 
won’t hide their light 

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unlike rats in the bushes 
dragging in rubbish 
from leftover swarms

 

of picknickers crammed 
onto moth eaten blankets 
starving for company

 

the lime green invaders 
without proper manners 
are never without. 

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Beverly Frydman​

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hope you know i'm in love with you too Series: Savannah Hardman

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Lady Walking Dog, Miami: Johan Orellana

HAUNTED

For John (1997-2020)

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Upon returning to the city, I see him

          driving an ambulance on the BQE,
          waiting for the light to change at Roosevelt Avenue,

                                   eating alone in a Starbucks,

                                   content in the simplest way.

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           The length of his body
           on the shore banks of Astoria...

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The basement I inhabit is crammed with stacks of books
I pretend to have finished reading.
“One day I’ll sit down and read War & Peace,”
said No One with a Life, ever.
After ten days of “One Hundred Years of Solitude”
I left home for a night of bad attitudes and safe fun,
but don’t ask me about “Swann’s Way” because i can only remember

 

 

       ...the length of their bodies
       in bags outside Elmhurst Hospital.

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I opened a door / a memory / a dream:

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An empty Astoria Park / roaring police lights
Citizens covered / an ambulance racing down 19th street

You become a cloud of smoke / report of a shot fired

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...

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Measure the pain of the people you left;

Hearts heavy with guilt, they knew why you fled

Alone with a gun, to the East River shore.

The length of their bodies,
you added one more.

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Chris Rojas

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Traces, Encinitas, CA: Molly Peters

Traces, Encinitas, CA: Molly Peters

Ginza: John Kinney

Ginza: John Kinney

Ueno Park: John Kinney

Ueno Park: John Kinney

3_IntrudedAndUnapologetic_JinwooHwonLee_

Intruded and Unapologetic: Jinwoo Hwon Lee ìŽí›€

Citizens III: Jinwoo Hwon Lee

Citizens III: Jinwoo Hwon Lee ìŽí›€

Untitled: Lo K. Clayton

Untitled: Lo K. Clayton

TIMES FROM THE PAST THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE WERE SMUSHED TOGETHER AND WE HAD NO IDEA HOW GOOD WE HAD IT

  • Big John’s wedding. This was my first wedding as an “older kid”, I think I was 12ish. It was filled with so much joy and love and laughter. We danced the night away and the happy couple looked beautiful.

  • Nicky’s wedding. It was hot and sticky in the south but it didn’t bother anybody because the day was so beautiful. We all sat in a painting-like entry hall room as I watched my brother marry the love of his life. I have a picture from that night of me hugging Nicky. We aren’t that affectionate necessarily, I love that photo.

  • Halloween party on Myrtle. Camille came back from that party and told Emily, “that party was kinda gross, everyone was just making out with each other.” It’s true. That’s where I met Delilah.

  • Concert with Sara. We went to this festival thing with The Front Bottoms, Twenty One Pilots, and Catfish and the Bottlemen. It was super hot, and we both got a little crispy. We were on the lawn with hundreds of other people piled up on top of each other. Bottled Water was $4.50.

  • Bob Smith’s Soccer camp, early 2000s. We used to have camp behind the old ice skating rink in Mercer County Park. We’d run around like maniacs and then go inside the rink for lunch where we’d have pizza and juice.

 

 

  • 4th of July at Carl’s nephew’s. We drove up a ways and I don’t like the car much but it was worth it. Delilah looked beautiful. The food was my favorite kind. The kids all climbed up on top of me in the pool as we played. The next day my muscles were sore.

  • That one time me and Emily threw a party. I filled a huge clear plastic bag with ice from the gym where I worked and dragged it over to her basement. We filled the sink with ice and bud light. We had flowers and people painted each other’s faces.

  • Broadway

  • Farm parties

  • Nicky’s navy graduation. That was so many people. It was like a sea of white, it was so hard to spot him. I was still wearing dresses at that point. I was (am) so proud of him.

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These are in no particular order, I wrote them as they came to me in a stream of consciousness.

 

I’m lucky to have so many people in my life I want to be near.

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Jennifer Klockner

Tribe: Lawrence Agyei

Tribe: Lawrence Agyei

Shani Crowe: Lawrence Agyei

Shani Crowe: Lawrence Agyei

Imani + Indigo: Lawrence Agyei

Imani + Indigo: Lawrence Agyei

hope you know i'm in love with you too Series: Savannah Hardman

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Rest Stop Blues: Blythe Cross

FRAGMENTS AND PIECES

Half faces, half glimpses.
Memories there and faded.
Though pop up like notification
when you’d least expect something to come around.

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Will the subway ads ever change?

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Play to five people.
As long as it’s a five seater.

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Just wander like the peacocks at the Prospect park zoo.

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Traveling in pairs, packs, and trios.

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Harder to bob and weave on the sidewalk.

Lines at the crosswalk.

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Untitled Series: Savannah Hardman

One of Many: John O'Toole

One of Many: John O'Toole

You see friends you haven’t seen in awhile.

And you just circle each other like dogs in a park.

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Old snow and traces of footsteps covered by fresh flurries.

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Empty space.
Full space.
Half space.
Coming and going. There for a minute. A minute they’re there.

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To smile like a singer does.
When an audience sings their lyrics.

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John O'Toole

Extra Seat: Madison Wilds Burger

Extra Seat: Madison Wilds Burger

Untitled: Lo K. Clayton

Untitled: Lo K. Clayton

Late Night Ride: Jacob Grumalaitis

Late Night Ride: Jacob Grumalaitis

ShaniIndigo_Shot_By_LawrenceAgyei_smalle

Shani + Indigo: Lawrence Agyei

Thank you for reading.

For more updates check @pearl.press on Instagram.

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www.pearl-press.com

Delilah Twersky

Pearl Press

©2021

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