JOSHUA MEANDER...

Joshua Meander, when he recites a poem it's a theatrical experience. When he host a reading it's a tribal ceremony. Joshua has run the Nomad's Choir reading series since 1989 and publishes a magazine by the same name.


CRY, BABY

Through the walls of the apartment
Next door, a newborn baby's crying,
Brassy as a hurricane,
Screaming octaves as potent
As Hasidim weeping earnestly.
Cry on, baby. The world is scary.
Wail like a jazz trumpeter
In his attempt to wake the
Sleeping prophet in us all.
The real coming attractions
Are lurid enough to make pimps sob.
Caption after caption, the handgun
Is glorified to ghetto
Youth like a grand aphrodisiac
To boost their manhood tenfold.
Frame after frame, and the genocide
Flips onward to bleed another group:
Orders droned by atonal minds
New cast members for brutal sequels.
Jailed Republicans on the airwaves
Goad on rejects toting cheap flags.
Packages received in sweaty palms:
Mail bombs have replaced angry letters.
May the sound of this crying baby
Seep through the rafters and preach
To the world its S.O.S.