Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Baltimore is...


-A bird feather in a flower pot.
-A conversation with a stranger.
-A conversation with a stranger about whether a motorized bike is a scooter or a motorcycle.
-A half-rusted, but mostly new bike in a stream below a bridge.
-A smile, unexpectedly silver.
-An erratic-acting, seemingly oblivious, older hampden woman, dressed like a teenager standing below a "Wiley and Sons" funeral advertisement.
-An uncooked, stepped-on chicken breast next to a band-aid affixed to the sidewalk.
-An artificial flower from a corner store glass crack pipe every 10 steps for two blocks.
-A man mowing his steep lawn by dropping his mower tied to a rope around his waist while drinking a Natty Boh.
-A man rolling down Maryland Avenue in a wheelchair blasting credit repair ads out of the boombox in his lap.
-A man with a megaphone praising Jesus on Valentine's Day with a 40 oz of beer in his hand.
-Discussing oyster anatomical diagrams with the bartender at "Bar" while drinking Sambuca that's been there, she says, for at least 20 years - "nobody drinks this shit".
-A man with an amazing voice singing colorful ribbons of gospel while walking down the street on grey winter day.
-A dude riding his bike, not skillfully, through traffic with a neck brace on.
-A man in Lexington Market finishing a chicken leg and, nonchalantly, throwing the bone up in the air and a seagull catching it!
-Sitting in traffic and looking over at a forlorn-seeming worker covered in dust sitting on the stoop of a house underneath graffiti that reads "Take my money" who gives you the thumbs up sign with the most rewarding, wide smile when your eyes meet.
-A man dragging his foot along, limping down the middle of the street on a windy day, drinking a steaming cup of coffee, as a plastic bag floats past he plucks it out of the air, then let's it go behind him as it and he continue their paths through the neighborhood.
-A double billboard with one side advertising whale watching in Maine, the other, a public service announcement about rape, above a Dr. Feel liquor store that appears to be out of business. All signs are peeling and deteriorated.

*To be continually added to...