WE ARE YOU PROJECT
Bio: Michael Foldes
Mike Foldes lives in Endwell, NY, a place that seldom fails to inspire those who've never heard of it to quote Shakespeare. He is founder and managing editor of ragazine.cc, the online magazine of art, information and entertainment. A collaboration of artists, writers, photographers, poets, travelers and interested others, ragazine.cc is an eclectic collection of material with a global audience in mind. Foldes graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor's degree in anthropology. He attended classes at Franklin Law School, Bowling Green State University, Binghamton University, The New School of Social Research, and Broome Community College. As an editor, publisher, columnist and contributor, his work has appeared in newspapers, magazines, literary publications, chapbooks, e-zines and elsewhere. In the early 1980s, he edited the first edition of the Power Sources Manufacturers' Association's "Handbook of Standardized Terminology for the Power Sources Industry," which, after numerous updates, is still in print. His recent book, Sleeping Dogs: A true story of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, was published by Split Oak Press, Ithaca, NY, in April 2012.
Foldes makes his living as a sales engineer specializing in medical electronics. Among his favorite jobs was tending bar at the Poetry Society headquarters in Earl's Court Square, London, England, in the early '70s, where he acquired a taste for warm Guinness while drinking with Dodie Farr, a distant cousin of the queen, and Neil Gaydos, a musician friend from upstate New York who he ran into on Portobello Road one fine day in late November. Foldes is on the advisory board of the Campaign For An Informed Citizenry, an organization whose stated goal is the "education of the public that can allow us to become better, more aware citizens of the world." He is gratified for the opportunity to contribute as a member of the Poetry Committee to the goals and objectives of We Are You Project.
We Are You Triptych
1
saturday: the conversation
the dichotomy was immediately apparent.
the haves battling have nots.
the conversation turned to education.
how can americans be so well educated
and still think they are number one?
the haves battling have nots.
and what does that mean, anyway?
who’s kidding whom, and what did
the tea party mean when they said
you can come and go, but you can’t stay?
the haves battling have nots.
what’s to become of us? of you?
hours go by; one day you will look
over your aching shoulder
and think the time barrier broken,
but the reality is, you are.
you can come and go, but you can’t stay. there is no turning back;
hands of the clock
wave farewell to a child
you cannot remember now.
what’s to become of us? of you?
this divergence cannot be ignored.
at the border, a high, hot sun, long lines
and heat waffling the atmosphere.
there is no turning back.
at a distance, the visitors are under water.
if there were an ellis island on the rio grande, what would it look like? would they
take your name and give you another,
smith, jones or alexander?
the haves battling have nots.
would they dare you share
the new world dream?
how to stake your claim
when you can come and go,
but you can’t stay?
2
sunday morning: truth in art
the canvas at your feet,
sand, sand and red rock.
ermin, fox, nylon, mink
and palette knife.
sand, sand and red rock.
teach the children grayscale,
let them paint the desert.
sand, sand and red rock.
egg white, ash, linseed oil,
cactus, oak and gilas.
fashion dictates do not rule,
paint what isn’t taught
in school,
sand, sand and red rock.
high priests and false prophets
beckon to another side,
what is given is the jewel,
stretch the linen
tight and smooth,
paint the desert,
sand, sand and red rock.
3
sunday afternoon
chile, i will drink your wine.
argentina, i will eat your beef.
brazil, i will fly in your planes
and when we land
photograph the serra da capivara.
colombia, i will smoke your hemp
and weep reading your best poets.
peru, i will climb your peaks
and breathe thin pure air.
guatemala, i will drink your coffee
and praise rigoberta menchú
for seeking justice when it was
in short supply.
panama, i will wear your hats
and cross your bridges,
and when i change sides
from north to south
explode with curiousity
about what lies ahead.
ecuador, i will explore
your galapagos and know
your history as darwin did.
uruguay, i will celebrate august 25
with you, and tell others
you have diversity to share.
paraguay, i will dream in guarani
of the peaceful past.
nicaragua, honduras, belize,
cost rica, el salvador, guayana,
french guiana, cuba, mexico
and all the islands of the caribbean,
puerto rico, key west, miami,
arizona, texas, alabama,
california, new jersey, new york,
we will sit at the same table,
feed the hunger of nations,
quench the thirst of dry throats...
but remember,
layer up, it’s winter here,
hot as hell, twice as near.
venceremos.
did it there; do it here.
(7/22/12, Fort Lee, NJ)
(© Mike Foldes 2012)