When I took this picture; painted on the side of the Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts and the Stollery Gallery on 118th. Avenue; I was struck by the silent, unmoving, unnaturalness of a rigid face, a face not in motion; not alive. I was intrigued by the idea of faces on a wall and I wrote this poem.
Faces on a Wall
Tell me a story, young faces of glory
An act on this brick stage.
Emoji stones faces, erases
A blink, a wink, a pout, a rage
Blow me a kiss- I miss.
Granite brow without wrinkles, or crinkles
The rain pouring down never falters – never alters
I wanted to write a poem about the ghost bike which was placed at the intersection of 96th. Street and Norwood Blvd. in Edmonton last November. It stands as a stark reminder of the death of a city cyclist, killed in an early morning hit and run, and is the work of the Edmonton Bicycle Commuters Society.
If you want to find out more, you can go to the EBC site or ghostbikes.org, to see what is happening with ghost bikes around the world.
Ghost Bikes
You rode into death on your bicycle.
Different, I wonder?
From getting old, everything slowing down
Breath, pulse, being
You rode into death on rubber tires.
A sudden slam ending
Like birth-entering with an explosion of light and noise and new dimension-
The wheels going round and round, then slowing down and stopping.
Hello All!