Poem of the Day
Poem of the Day is a changing display featuring one poem and photo from my archives. See below.
For additional information about the poem and photograph, contact Marc
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Anonymous
There are days I revel in
the freedom of brown bricks
my mind can soar anyway
in their hard, urban magic
composing a different song
with my very own lyrics
at times my head grins
in the concrete outside
in the concrete outside
it’s rushed and crowded
but my thoughts are untied
amidst granite and steel
the universe is roamed wide
on some streets my skin
breathes the center of this place
breathes the center of this place
surrounded by thousands
who can’t see my face
we all just squeeze past
in this special, bold space
hidden deep within
there’s my contrary glow
there’s my contrary glow
despite the challenges
I’m part of the big flow
exchanging energy
even if no one knows
so another hour ends
but the next can excite
but the next can excite
with its vast variety
in the city of great heights
as I glance to its edge
at the golden sunlight.
Copyright © 2007 Marc P. Anderson
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The photograph was taken in 1980 on a street in Greenwich Village in Manhattan. The sun in the late afternoon sky was very strong and it silhouetted everything when you looked toward the west. It was a scene that I always liked because the seemingly harsh city was bathed in a warm, appealing light.
The image was a metaphor for what can happen in this most extreme, concrete city called New York. The poem, which was written 27 years later specifically for this photo, is about such an environment, where one should feel overwhelmed by the solidity and density of the city. Yet for me, and for so many people who come here and stay despite the challenges, the opposite often occurs. The city is oddly not always confining and instead can be liberating. It can be a place of possibilities and opportunities, maybe because you are exposed to so much more merely walking down the street. Of course, with so many people it is certainly a place of activity rather than calm and it is not for everybody. But you can get appealingly “lost” in the city if you want to, almost as though you were really in a serene environment after all. And even if you, your creativity and your accomplishments remain anonymous, the city can be a great place to pursue your thoughts and goals, and flourish anyway.
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MarcWords
My poems arise from moods and thoughts generated by my own life and from placing myself in the lives of others.
For decades I have written poems and mated them with specific photographs in the belief that the two art forms can result in something even more fascinating when presented together. Sometimes I have taken a photo first and written a poem for it later. Other times the reverse occurred. A time span of days to years can separate the writing of a poem, the capturing of an image and their final mating.
I am not a poet. Instead I am a photographer who also writes essays and poems. My poems do not follow any rules. I write what I feel. The style of writing is usually accessible and the approach is often personal.
Many of my poems with stronger, controversial themes, which appear in a collection entitled MarcWords, have been categorized under the headings Life and Death, Race, and Love and Sexuality. They are accompanied by equally strong images including artistic nudes. In order to keep this website accessible and non-offensive to the general public, such poems and photo combinations are not included in Poem of the Day but they are available in MarcWords and other non-public web journals.