Tag Archives: Chicago

on light

despite so much light
no one can see everything
there are dark corners

~

n.b. To describe Chicago as complex would be a good starting point. A stunning construction. A place that seems to strive to improve. My kind of town.

on time

late-night traffic halts
blues on red, no one around
still, they sit and wait

~

n.b. Chicago police are recruiting. The bus company is recruiting. Most bars, restaurants, shops seem to be recruiting. Trucking companies are recruiting. Everyone is recruiting.

In the UK, it seems the over-50s, who have cleared off mortgages, been well-paid enough to save money and found a way to step out of the work–place, the meaningless drudge of commuting, the long hours present at a work station, (missing daylight, weather, loved ones), are to blame for the lack of workers (NOT the million, or so, young Europeans who went back to Europe after Brexit?). As a consequence, the government is going to try to make it harder for the low-paid, low-wage, home-renters to leave the workplace.

If that’s the UK problem, what’s happening in the USA?

CLP 23/09/2022

on time

same old song re-sung
gigging round the USA
nostalgia for some

~

n.b. Supper club swan song, the songs sung over supper. Some punters went along yesterday too. Calling up the past, second childhood, or trying to bury the present? One bloke with a mullet got up to dance to one familiar tune, but sat down when he realised there were people behind him, (he wasn’t tall enough to be in the way, but I enjoyed his passing punk attitude, while it lasted).

CLP 21/09/2022

on truth

believe it or not
there are many ghosts out there
calling from the grave

~

n.b. I had a wander to see where all this might be happening. No sign of the Heartbeat Café, no reply to my enquiring email via Bookface, or whatever it’s called these days. I think this perpetually advertised event is a ghosting.

CLP 21/09/2022

on time

the civil war was when
some people hoped all sorted
no money, no change

~

n.b. Shifts in society take generations. Chris Kaba’s family in London, UK, also spring to mind.

CLP 22/09/2022

on time

schedules don't account
for variable weather
rain-break friendships flow

~

n.b. Something special about the White Sox crowd. Nearly six hours with the rain delay start, passed in a flash. Thank you to Sam, Henry, the guy in the queue (not ‘The Queue’) and the ticket seller. Unforgettable evening of great conversation. Baseball was pretty good too, by the way.

CLP 21/09/2022