Pinny Bulman was born and raised in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, USA. Pinny is a Bronx Council on the Arts BRIO award-winning poet. He has been winner of the Poets of NYC Contest, recipient of several ADR Poetry Awards, and a finalist for the Raynes Poetry Prize. His poems recently appeared in the anthologies Undeniable (Alternating Current Press) and Escape Wheel (great weather for MEDIA) and were published in Korean translation for Bridging the Waters III (Korean Expatriate Literature & Cross-Cultural Communications). Pinny’s poetry has also appeared in a variety of other literary publications, including The London Reader, Muddy River Poetry Review, Artemis, Pressenza International, Red Paint Hill, and Poetry Quarterly.
Bx9
ninety-two million miles later, the sunlight
slamming through the dirty bus window
projects urgent messages onto worn faces
become traveling destinations
an older woman humming softly
as she reads the gospel next
to a man with torn sneakers just conscious enough to
occasionally lift the spray bottle of dusting cleanser
to his nostril
all of us born in cosmic explosion, we refugees
always speeding from our fiery origins,
stuck in traffic at unimaginable speeds
across from me a toddler slips a pacifier
over the bent neck
of a broken emergency handle,
one more child in this world deciding
to no longer be silenced.
breakfast cereal, with roaches
1.
before taking the cereal box from the kitchen shelf
bang it twice with the back of your hand
then step back,
give the larger ones a chance to exit the box
and seek shelter
2.
choose a bright bowl with solid color
no patterned designs,
use hard plastic
or a startled jerk of disgust
may lead to shatter
3.
pour slowly and carefully in a brightly lit room,
always pour the cereal before
pouring the milk
4.
if you encounter one while eating
and your sibling gleefully repeats the joke
about protein being part of a balanced breakfast
say nothing,
use your spoon to silently catapult the roach
into their bowl
5.
even if your parents rarely allow sugary cereals
even if it is the only sugary cereal in the apartment
never ever choose the cocoa pebbles
6.
one day you will have a family of your own
live in a different neighborhood
you will forget that breakfast cereal once had roaches until the morning the back of your hand accidentally
bangs the cereal box while reaching for the milk,
these memories will suddenly peek out over the top
skitter down the sides of the box
and while you sit frozen
quickly seek shelter back in the shadows.
come away
this summer night
the playground fences melt into the sidewalk
shrug off solidity
our liquefied longing greasing the swing chains
pooling in sweaty hands
the palm lines blurring
increasingly illegible
come away you whisper
let us cleanse ourselves in the hydrant spray
purifying this broken place,
listen to the lost harbor winds
playing the bridge suspension cables like a harp
i beg of you, do not awaken
the love until
it is desirous
we lean over the rusting railing
to watch ourselves ripple
in the river quietly cutting through the bedrock
itself vibrating
sending signals to something molten churning beneath,
why pretend that anything can be still
remain whole
come away you whisper
this water too can be split
and the wilderness pulled over our heads like a quilt
let us follow our pillar of fire
towards the distant spice mountains
come away.