writing about bagels
and reading about bagels,
reading about reviewing bagels
and writing about bagels once more
all thew while making/eating/pondering
bagels
it’s been a very bagel-y couple of days
[but when is it not
in New York City?]
NYC
March 7, 2022
it feels
like spring
today
wild flowers
blossoming into
purple patches
on our lawn
it feels
like spring
today
no coat
necessary
for dog-
walking
it feels
like spring
today
yesterday’s rain
melds in
my nose
with other
nyc smells
to create
something
new
it feels
like spring
today
the spouse
planning a
garden
on each
terrace
in the
back
it feels
like spring
today
we all
sat/stood
in the
sunlight
absorbing it
knowing
that although
it feels
like spring
today
tomorrow
could be
a whole
different
story.
January 24, 2022
we are now
well into
the third year
of living in new york city
and though i’m not where i thought i’d be,
the whole world isn’t where it thought it’d be
either.
the pandemic has really taken the onus
off my own head
for what i wanted to accomplish
when i got here,
and redirected my aims
not lower
just sideways-er,
from theatre/circus/maybe film
to voiceover/film/maybe circus
(and a little activism in there
because how could you not be
when looking at
this world)
and theatre…?
who knows what will happen
within this third year
(within these next few months/weeks/days)
but i do know that
governmental policies (or lack thereof) really left the public
out in the cold
at the very beginning
of this whole ordeal
and haven’t been able to rectify
that harm
(nor have i seen much in the way of trying)
and i shouldn’t have expected any better
but man
do i want
to trust
that people
will do the right things,
but power seems to corrupt
even the
best of us…
but
i was talking about
living in new york city
and my life here
(or lack thereof)
and all i have to say is,
though i don’t think i ever really got
the ‘true’
living in nyc experience,
i still suspect
i couldn’t live
anywhere
else.
January 7, 2022
having been burned by
the National Weather Service
and over-preparedness
in the past,
the Kips opted
to ignore the
winter weather advisory
for their area
and sleep comfortably in a home
with
no shovel
and
no rock salt
and woke to some of the
pack-y-est snow they’ve seen
in NYC
thus far.
but all is not lost,
for these two new(ish) homeowners,
for they had opted for a push-broom
to rid their driveway of autumnal leaves
and that seemed to work fine
(for now)
for the little piece of sidewalk
and tiny driveway
that they have
and perhaps,
if it does continue to snow
(as the weather app says)
they will brave the icy streets
(which hold no fear in the driving Kip,
having spent six years in Wisconsin
driving multiple times a day)
to pick up
a brand new snow shovel
and a bucket of (pet safe) salt.
but for now:
coffee,
bagels,
and enjoying this wonderland view.
January 2, 2022
what is it about
early early morning in New York
that i love so much?
is it the quiet?
i wouldn’t be happy
elsewhere
where it’s
quieter,
but there is something about
expecting the cacophony
and getting the simplicity
the silence of the grandiose,
the liminal space
between the raucousness of nightlife
and the blaring consciousness of daytime
i am always one for the unexpected
i live to break rules
and realities
and that,
i think,
is why i love early early morning
in the city
that says it never sleeps
(but i’ve seen the empty streets.)
December 24, 2021
It’s a very skunk-y Christmas
When the day before the Eve-ening,
A precariously-leaned gate outside our door
Gave a neighborhood skunk quite a fright-ening
It’s a very skunk-y Christmas
When throughout our teeny home
The not-quite-fully sealed window panes
Let the stink-smell roam
It’s a very skunk-y Christmas
We’ve tried candles, incense, and fans
Though perhaps if we’d had a real-live-fir
Yeah, that would’ve been a good plan…
It’s a very skunk-y Christmas
But at least it’s not the only threat
What with Omicron out a-spreading
Friends and family won’t be visiting just yet
It’s a very skunk-y Christmas
But our animals don’t seem to mind
The cat runs around as spastic as us-ual
And the dog’s head tilts in kind
It’s a very skunk-y Christmas
When the day before the Eve-ening,
A precariously-leaned gate outside our door
Gave a neighborhood skunk quite a fright-ening
December 14, 2021
Kip asked me yesterday if i ever missed
Brooklyn
and i said i missed some things,
some people,
i miss Carlos and Jacob and the other babies who would
squeal
with fright/delight as they pet the giant teddy bear
that is Louka.
i miss the unofficial mayor of Flatbush (Joy),
and Mike
and about
half
the people in our building
(not that we dislike the other half,
we just never really met them).
i miss all the vegetarian food places;
El Barrio Burritos,
Zen Vegetarian Chinese food,
and the veggie option at Silver Rice,
and that food-truck that stood at the street-corner near the Q
waiting for me to try one of the falafels
(but i never did…)
i miss the woman selling wares and jewelry and incense from her van
every day
(though we still have plenty of Egyptian Musk to get us through)
and i do miss the vibrancy of
Prospect Park
right next door.
but
here
we have new neighbors to get to know,
new food places to explore
(though i am still in search of good plant-based options),
new parks to meander around,
a backyard,
a road Louka isn’t afraid to walk near,
and the best bagels we’ve had in New York
so…i’m pretty sure we’re winning.
(plus, our old home is simply a train ride
or two
away!)
November 27, 2021 (part two)
driving
on one’s birthday
(even when one generally enjoys driving)
is a bit of a let-down…
but at least
one can come home
to one’s loud and weird cat
and an ice cream cake for late evening
and general feelings of belonging
being back
in
new york city.
[home]
November 26, 2021
there’s snow
snow outside
snow out of doors
snow dropping flakes
on my giant winter coat
designed with astronauts in mind
but it still can’t keep me completely warm
in Wisconsin Winters
and Northern Ohio Thanksgivings
and Pennsylvania Stays
but maybe,
just maybe,
when we’re back in New York
(the city)
the weather will be a bit more reasonable
and i can keep warm
and it won’t snow too much
and i can keep being excited about
NYC
instead of dreaming of
far-off
LA
NOLA
Costa Rica
places where my body feels
it was meant to be
(at least in the cold months)
November 15, 2021
there was a fox
who lived in our old neighborhood
(in Madison, Wisconsin)
and even though we never saw it in our own backyard,
our neighbors informed us it was often there
and Kip would gasp
every evening
into the darkness
and whisper
“The Fox!”
here in this neighborhood
of The Bronx
there are two skunks
roaming the sidewalks,
rooting around for food
in our zen garden of a backyard,
burrowing in the bushes
near the front,
and though i was the only one to see one of them
hiding
in the hostas,
if i don’t shine a light down the alleyway
Kip will gasp
into the darkness
and whisper
“The Skunk!”
and that is how
“The Skunk!”
became the new
“The Fox!”
kipventures 