the walls could sing

at the red star cafe

cleveland west side

everything gone now

including a lot of the poets

but build it again

& they'll come

could there be anything

more timely than

another red star cafe

there aren't any code words here

or propaganda subterfuge

     all it was

was a wild west side word fest

words filled up in backpacks

and spiral notebooks

     open mics

coming out of the back alleys

& off the buses

and then afterwards

a diner across the avenue

and more hours of

words and obscure (pre-search engine)

mind exercises

i really don't know

how it all started

     or ended

i was lucky enough

to be a drifter in time

if there ever was a night

when the walls caved in

or rage rose up

& the whispers finally stopped

in their winter tracks

it might just have been

the luck of the draw

or the holiest

of coincidences

--- e b bortz