#buffalopoets

[simmsbauer-blog]

The stranger at the top of the stairs  looks down through the haze and stars, blinded by the color of the walls, the stairs, the ceiling. He does not rememer how to step down, his body forgetting its lifetime of movements practiced and rehearsed for moments outside of itself. He does not— as the people ahead and below  pose and dance and prop themselves  into awkward shapes confusing questions he hasn't yet researched the answer to —know how to descend, his mind misunderstanding what was expected of him.  He did not prepare for this, had only considered conversation, knew his lines  and was confident he could fool them all into believing he was still alive.  But this was not supposed to happen.  He had not been warned, or allowed to prepare, mimicking the faces, expressions, poses, of those before him. The stranger at the top of the stairs looks down, he feels the press  of real people behind him, and knows there is no way  but forward.  / / / / / // / #poetry #poem #poet #instapoet #poetsofig #poetsofinstagram #poetrycommunity #poetscommunity #writers #writersofinstagram #writersofig #buffalopoet #buffalopoets #buffalopoetry #buffalony #simmscity #simmsbauer // / / manipulated from the original photo by steve halama (at Buffalo, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/BoE9sZiAS-_/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=j0unhwspsanv

[gasstationb]

from @justbuffalolit ・・・ born in babylon both nonwhite and woman what did i see to be except myself? i made it up here on this bridge between starshine and clay, my one hand holding tight my other hand; come celebrate with me that everyday something has tried to kill me and has failed. — “won’t you celebrate with me,” Lucille Clifton Thank you to @wbfonews for sharing poetry on air—by Clifton and Sherry Robbins, featured in our latest LIT CITY VOICES video. Link to the full story with our Artistic & Associate Executive Director Barbara Cole in our bio. Photo from our Renovation Celebration in February—looking forward to the day when we can share this space with you again. Until then, we’re still here for you and for literature and for Buffalo. #litcity #litcityvoices . . . . #gsbauthorquotes #gsbquoteslucilleclifton . . . . . . . . . . #gasstationburrito #onthisday #literaryhistory #bookstagram #books #bookworm #author #authorquotes #authormemes #writer #writerquotes #lucilleclifton #lucillecliftonpoetry #poetry #poet #buffalopoet #poetsofbuffalo #wontyoucelebratewithme #celebrate #buffalony #buffaloliteraryhistory https://www.instagram.com/p/B-cmmZ_h1kt/?igshid=zg04di3smq8s

[simmsbauer-blog]

Am I alone in this? I look around at the other cars,  the other drivers,  the other nine to five  rush hour commuting slaves to profession and calling and false meaning cashed biweekly, and no one else seems to notice, no one else seems to cringe  or hear, or react  or engage... Another screaming, squealing, Nails on chalkboard grinding when the driver even just thinks  there’s a yellow light up ahead.  I stare in disbelief at the School Bus, it’s brakes still crying out  in its final weeks-long death throes  that echo for miles down  the hot cracked asphalt  that is slow boiling our souls  as we crawl along it  begging for the scraps of  corporate america.  School has been back for two days.  Didn’t they have the summer  to check the brakes, change the brakes, Silence the warnings... heal our tired,  sore interchangeable parts.  Didn’t we have time to get well? Why do we still cry,  even as the lights turn green again.../ / / —simms bauer / "When We Have All the Time in the World, But the World Still Cries" ______________________________________ 📷 Photo Credit: AtelierKS / / / / / #poetry #poem #poet #instapoet #poetsofig #poetsofinstagram #poetrycommunity #poetscommunity #writers #writersofinstagram #writersofig #buffalony #buffalopoet #buffalopoets #buffalopoetry #simmscity #simmsbauer #whywecry #backtoschool #traffic #schoolbus #allthetimeintheworld (at Buffalo, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnXYN0sA0tq/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=95ul0kxftvhm

[simmsbauer-blog]

There's so much to do. There's so much to get caught up on. There's so much we're behind on. Suffocated by, Buried by, Overwhelmed by Day after day. But..... Not today. There's time for that later. But not today. Today we explore... Today... It's time To Go. . . . . . . #poetry #poem #poet #instapoet #poetsofig #poetsofinstagram #poetrycommunity #poetscommunity #writers #writersofinstagram #writersofig #buffalopoet #buffalopoets #buffalopoetry #simmscity #simmsbauer #explore #letgo #getmoving #itstime (at Buffalo, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnRdL8UgxaY/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1tx0bk0a2f76f

[simmsbauer-blog]

Don't forget to breathe, and stop overthinking everything. I had to cut a few lines from this that didn't work. They could have worked if I'd gotten the thought out but I was interrupted by a drunk guy at 9am who needed to tell me about how the crew who came to install his satellite dish hated him because he insisted on running all the wiring himself, rather than let them do it. Because of that my entire train of thought was fucked and the world is now forever deprived of those three or four lines of pure poetic genius. But that guy has cheap satellite service. Or something. I guess. / / / / / #poetry #poem #poet #instapoet #poetsofig #poetsofinstagram #poetrycommunity #poetscommunity #writers #writersofinstagram #writersofig #buffalopoet #buffalopoets #buffalopoetry #simmscity #simmsbauer #dontforgettobreathe (at Buffalo, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnFeb2WAIsO/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1a3ow13edcav9

[simmsbauer-blog]

So go get to work... . . . . . . . . #rightreasons #findyourreason #poetry #poem #poet #instapoet #poetsofig #poetsofinstagram #poetrycommunity #poetscommunity #writers #writersofinstagram #writersofig #buffalopoet #buffalopoets #buffalopoetry #simmscity #simmsbauer #buffalowriter #buffalowriters  (at Buffalo, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnCwZnFgIid/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1lw3857ib6nvx

[simmsbauer-blog]

And would you even know how to save a life, she asked, but was turned back toward the inferno of lights  and their siren call  to the swaying drunken dead  buried alive before us.  And I could never answer, And she could never explain, And we could never know, as the erupting sounds that destroyed our small world, drowned out that answer and left us to perish,  each alone  In the crowd. —simms bauer / 'how to save a life' / / / / / #poetry #poem #poet #instapoet #poetsofig #poetsofinstagram #poetrycommunity #poetscommunity #writers #writersofinstagram #writersofig #buffalopoet #buffalopoets #buffalopoetry #buffalony #simmscity #simmsbauer (at Buffalo, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/Boc6wDqgE69/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=18t47gt11sopp

[simmsbauer-blog]

I don't want your pornography. Your self-flagellation. Your fucking bromidic drooling best wishes and morose pats  on my wretched broken back. Do you think that heals? Do you think you comfort? You are salt in the wound, And torn open again Again Again  In so few trite words what I stitched together over months. You are regression You are regret You are that shade  which clings to every step And reminds me  what darkness lies  within my own shadow / / / / sb / The Salt of the Earth Upon My Grave / / / / #poetry #poem #poet #instapoet #poetsofig #poetsofinstagram #poetrycommunity #poetscommunity #writers #writersofinstagram #writersofig #buffalopoet #buffalopoets #buffalopoetry #simmscity #simmsbauer #saltoftheearth #saltinmywounds #bestwishes #sincerelyyours / / / //Image is adapted from 'Bow Down' by Alex Hiller// (at Buffalo, New York)

[simmsbauer-blog]

You can paint over me, 

but I will still exist underneath. 

You can erase my name, 

but it will still be whispered behind your back. 

You can lock me up,

but I will still reach into the world beyond that you have tried to rid of me. 

You can beat me down,

but you will not keep me down. 

You can make me fear this place,

but you cannot stop me from going there. 

You can. 

You can. 

You can. 

But I will not let you. 

I will exist 

Underneath. 

And while you will hide me 

from Your world,

Know that it is crumbling 

within your faltering grip.

You feel it now, 

and we have made you see it.

You cannot hide me.

You will not hide us. 

I am rebuilding my world beneath yours,

and when your kingdom falls under

it’s own piled filth and rotting bile,

Mine will be there,

Stronger for having been enslaved 

to support your crumbling house of cards.

Underneath, you will fall. 

/ / —simms bauer // ‘underneath, we fall’ / /

/ / / / /

#poetry #poem #poet #instapoet #poetsofig #poetsofinstagram #poetrycommunity #poetscommunity #writers #writersofinstagram #writersofig

#buffalopoet #buffalopoets #buffalopoetry #simmscity #simmsbauer

#underneath #disruption #riseup #perseverance (at Buffalo, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/BneYDS3g4qe/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=rqxoqbw0ykqs

[simmsbauer-blog]

When the morning light promises to crack your soul apart.... / / / / / #poetry #poem #poet #instapoet #poetsofig #poetsofinstagram #poetrycommunity #poetscommunity #writers #writersofinstagram #writersofig #buffalopoet #buffalopoets #buffalopoetry #simmscity #simmsbauer (at Buffalo, New York)

[simmsbauer-blog]

I don't know what this is supposed to mean or what story I'm trying to tell. Unlike the other things I share, I don't have the complete story before me—just this piece, this glimpse, this fragment of a drunken memory maybe, that I can't understand. What will she say next—what did she say before? Why can't I remember? I'm sorry, I wanted something more upbeat to share today, I've been feeling very dark lately, too angry. And now this has left me.... confused, wondering, disappointed with myself for now knowing the whole story. Maybe more will come. —sb / / / / / #poetry #poem #poet #instapoet #poetsofig #poetsofinstagram #poetrycommunity #poetscommunity #writers #writersofinstagram #writersofig #buffalopoet #buffalopoets #buffalopoetry #simmscity #simmsbauer (at Buffalo, New York)

[simmsbauer-blog]

There is a bottle at the bottom of the stairs, that I couldn't put away. We dance around each other  each time I find myself down the stairs, and I'm sure to keep  my hands full, my mind busy,  my  body rushed to go up or down. I pretend it isn't there. So much to do,  to stay ahead of, on top of, there isn't time for that. I can't let there be time,  or it will take all my time, steal my nights, destroy my sleep, wreck my mornings. There is no bargaining, no balance. I can stay on the shore or I can drown. Perhaps.... I will stay on the stairs, or I will be lost. —sb / Safe On Shore / / / / // #poetry #poem #poet #instapoet #poetsofig #poetsofinstagram #poetrycommunity #poetscommunity #writers #writersofinstagram #writersofig #buffalopoet #buffalopoets #buffalopoetry #simmsbauer / / #sober #drinking #bourbon #trying (at Buffalo, New York)

[gasstationb]

“I don’t write out of what I know; I write out of what I wonder. I think most artists create art in order to explore, not to give the answers. Poetry and art are not about answers to me; they are about questions.” ― Lucille Clifton 📚 • • • • • #gsbauthorquotes #gsbquoteslucilleclifton • • • • • #lucilleclifton #poet #buffalopoet #buffalohistory #blackwriters #blackpoetry #diversebooks #gasstationburrito #books #bookish #bookstagram #bookworm #booknerd #bookaholic #booklove #bookquotes #authorquotes #quotes #Instaquotes #igquotes #booksofinstagram #Bookporn #literaryhistory #onthisday #dailyinspiration #dailyquotes https://www.instagram.com/p/BzO_iqCBeLx/?igshid=zlmywric621p

[gasstationb]

“What they call you is one thing. What you answer to is something else.” / Lucile Clifton, born in Buffalo, NY on June 27, 1936 was a writer, educator and poet who was twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. • • • • • #gsbauthorquotes #gsbquoteslucilleclifton • • • • • #lucilleclifton #poet #buffalopoet #buffalohistory #blackwriters #blackpoetry #diversebooks #gasstationburrito #books #bookish #bookstagram #bookworm #booknerd #bookaholic #booklove #bookquotes #authorquotes #quotes #Instaquotes #igquotes #booksofinstagram #Bookporn #literaryhistory #onthisday #dailyinspiration #dailyquotes https://www.instagram.com/p/BzN2HMnhKNp/?igshid=i4kkvf36x12c

[simmsbauer-blog]

So exhausted now, the words having been drawn out, purged from my soul as they took shape on the page, written in ink distilled of my spirit, shaped by my hand as carefully as if I was drawing, in one unbroken line to give unfettered and infinite form, your figure... I need to sleep, and in dreaming of that familiar warm breathing beside me in the dark, relearn the words to paint again tomorrow's world ///// / / —Simms Bauer / 'before I sleep' / / / / / #poetry #poem #poet #instapoet #poetsofig #poetsofinstagram #poetrycommunity #poetscommunity #writers #writersofinstagram #writersofig #buffalopoet #buffalopoets #buffalopoetry #buffalony #simmscity #simmsbauer #beforeisleep #beforeiwake #writing #exhausted (at Buffalo, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnhzmRRAg1R/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=mb4rpo33w5u6

[simmsbauer-blog]

You gather in your barren gravel lots, these cities born in early morning, gone again by the next day’s light but for the broken,  wasted souls  now too week to carry on and left to wander blind for hope.  You stream into this land,  the colors of your made up heroes  draped and flapping,  proudly flown.  You’ve build these men to Gods and just as quickly tear them down.  Still so early now,  they are your champions  and the sadly, sleeping souls  of this quiet space  have not the eye for what will come They live this curse,  still drunk despite the drought, spirits lifted by the bitter, tested, tried and forged by flaming failure.  Now you reenact the battles  not yet fought  and those that lost have haunted cities. We see you play,  a child’s game now  wagered on with life or death. You see great battles,  with armies bound  by good and evil,  their allegiance proudly hung. We see you fall and rise,  you break your bones  betrayed by fractured minds yet fallen, and cripple yourselves in fun,  your laughter the accompanying song to which your slobbering tongues make up new verse to replace the words drowned  from rosey memory.  You see a glory that is  fleeting  with your drunken conquest,  fading  with the following morning’s breaking,  barely known beyond those gravel fields,  but for the broken,  bruising forms now shuffling  now, defeated  now, shameful  now... But not now.  But not until these days come back around  and the fields of mindless glory call  on you to return,  to beat,  to cry,  to fight louder against your selves and sense.  This time, this day, for this year.... It will be different, you will make it different, you will fight now for those too broken to carry on, those left in seasons past, in shattered gravel lots to rest.  You will fight, and this year you will be heard If only Victory was there to hear //Simms Bauer / "A Fool’s Twelfth, To Beat Back the Dying of the Flame" // #poetry #poem #poet #instapoet #poetsofig #poetsofinstagram #poetrycommunity #poetscommunity #writers #writersofinstagram #writersofig #buffalopoet #buffalopoets #buffalopoetry #buffalony (at Buffalo, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnhKgzDHC8l/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=165cuoip6s2w9