The End/The Future

While part of me feels a pull to "conclude" here, I don't know that I want to get into a long interpretation here about what I think these poems mean and what the different experiences and success rates at each site signify in my opinion. Throughout this process and particularly now that I am sharing the project, I have been acutely aware of my position as a white Yale student who is new to this city; I feel uncomfortable proposing a conclusion about this community and certainly do NOT intend to remedy any of its problems. Moreover, I would like this work to remain artistic, experimental, and process-oriented, rather than a procedure geared toward concrete sociological ends (although social science ideas did in part inspire the project). So, for the purposes of this blog, I'd like to let the work and the documentation speak for itself, to the degree that it says anything at all.

The other reason that I don't want to tie up the ends is that I'd like the process to continue. I've been brainstorming, with the help of others, ways to make these poems public in an unannounced but highly visible way that echoes the presentation of initial displays. I also feel that it would be unfortunate -- and for me, anticlimatic -- if the project ended with just a declaration of the works. I hope to find a way for people to respond to what they see or hear, be this response related to New Haven or something else entirely. Maybe there's a way for these poems to be launching pads for the creation of new poems or extensions of the existing ones. Maybe they will inspire the creation of something else entirely. I'll be thinking. If you want to think on this as well, I would welcome your ideas so gladly.

The Poems

Here is a compilation of the project's results at this point. I've left anything misspelled uncorrected.

I help the community
I have no money
I was human
I thank God that he is help me with my life

for they love

I dream for wisdom opportunity money we never fear
or question human help this community grow soon
first love you home do they trust cooperation between
community could difficult job search crime
did police protect him me safe
villain lock money trust some home
vivid as black white say over here
enter she smell these am ly thane was easy

Que no haiga mas guerra y no mas abusos y mejor ambiente

[I hope that there be no more war and no more abuse and a better environment]

Help community
Job opportunity

I dream for opportunity, wisdom, money
We never fear or question human help
This community will grow soon
First love your home
Do they trust cooperation between community
Could difficult job search increase crime?
Did police protect him?
Keep me safe from villain
Lock money, trust some in your home

She lock white trust

Dream for human love, trust, wisdom, never fear protect help the community and home of crime.

I love you
enter there
grow soon
say money help me
am safe
first, then
never dream
do we trust they
search home
could some black
police as question
him wisdom
easy smell
was home
between money
did this jod
these fear

for difficult or cooperation
easy smell
him wisdom
could some black police
search home
do we trust they
never dream
first than
am safe
help me
say money
grow soon
enter here
I love you
lock white trust

over villain
these fear
did this job
between money
was home

safe to

I know to always discover opportunity in

love cover take opportunity
beautiful life
protect heart

opportunity that make money

More money to coportion.

Why discover more ancient money?

Trust Black as white

I turn the heart black, But love is found beneath her trust

White day always beautiful
White covers, protects, beneath
Ask: why lock up the heart as money in a safe?
I take life
trust home
know love.

Ancient hero
mean(s) romance opportunity,
but loud crime
end(s) opportunity at community.

dream
could between
we safe say
she as
you lock
did
trust these
help home
cooperation me opportunity
some here
over easye
grow enter
money job
difficult do
wisdom
community soon
never
for

smell first home community crime
police fear black human the
love white villainy

you never love me

safe
dream grow than
money first smell

home
could these
trust
was for fear job did human
they black

question police
you dream than search for wisdom first grow trust
love never fear or trust soon these protect home
human
over
money

smell between difficult crime some say

community could do him easy
was
she
home
as
money
did
they lock
villain
me

help
black
community
here
white
opportunity
we
enter
safe
job
cooperation

love me
over money
protect these
grow some trust
easy than money

difficult
never
here
search
first

question, dream, secret, love, trust me!

Never Fear Protect Human Opportunity

Job, money, diffucult, home

we do safe over crime

trust or wisdom first could grow between community police

love
protect me money smell
these
she dream we grow trust crime

trust you

protect beneath that heart

protect we over these smell
enter they some wisdom
dreams grow money or
police trust villain you
love could question him
never help
safe community
fear was human than do
first trust
difficult job search

Never trust police
Say for

police explode like almost though there
job help
people who crime the community give crack
only to protect police but come home
judging my world too

Pretect crime now
Police come help

Crack open police crime
Help the community

Clogged drain
Clogged level line

The community have money but jobs wander off
and police judge black crime
people come home to crack safe
police only

did you say love me

was she difficult

soon they enter fear

we dream trust never

beneath her beautiful heart know that

always trust in romance

Give help to the world and judge police
help crime but explode people

Brazil

Laundromat, Farewell!

Yesterday, I went into the laundromat to collect my display. A young woman (girl?) I'd never seen before was behind the counter -- truly, there seems to be a new employee every time I walk in. I explained to her that the board was mine and that I was taking it. The notebook was gone. I asked when Maria would be in and she told me that Maria would be working all day tomorrow. The board had two lines of poetry:

Give help to the world and judge police
help crime but explode people


Today, I went in to the laundromat in search of Maria. Maria was dialing a phone number, with some relatives or co-workers around her. She saw me.

"You took it," she said.

"Yes, I know, but I just wanted to give you this to thank you for helping me. I really appreciate it." I gave her a box of Whitman's chocolates. I am not sure why I felt I had to do that, but I wanted to. She made this project work, really -- without the laundromat, I wouldn't have had much at all. And it's corny, but I felt kind of like I got to know her. I am not even sure how or if I'm imagining that.

"Oh, thank you," she said, still with the phone to her ear.

As I was leaving, she yelled something out to me.

"Sorry, what?" I said, turning around.

"Good luck," she replied.

Planned Parenthood Disaster

I was so excited to develop the pictures from Planned Parenthood, because I knew that they had been taken with care by Deanna over the course of several months. But when I got the pictures back, my heart sunk -- the disposable camera's shots only showed the poetry as shadowed and blurry, so that nothing could be read, either on the board or in the notebook.

But part of me is still OK with this. Maybe I'm trying to comfort myself, but I'm glad to at least have abundant proof that people used the board as a creative outlet. Still, it is so painful that the words are right there in the pictures I possess and yet I can't read them!

As for Koffee, the photos are even less clear but there are some funny ones that people took of themselves and of the shop: