Category: (WIS) Images with Words Series: on the road with ~Keith Alan Hamilton~

Images with Words Series: on the road with ~Keith Alan Hamilton~
Art in the form of Smartphone Photography (Images) in collaboration with Poetic Words.

image with words….

when the world is at rest… I arise
early to write what I think
despite what is popular
I bring forth into words my reality
one letter at a time
on my Smartphone keypad
I create what I call… a story poem
based around an image
I captured
with one push of the button
on the screen of my Smartphone camera

image with words….
together  ~  telling my story  ~  my way

Image & Words by   ~Keith Alan Hamillton~

only in NYC…

only in NYC… out the window
of the Carlton Arms Hotel
well maybe
possible
somewhere else in the world
can a person be awoke
@ 3 in the morning
by a sea of taxi cabs
jammed together  ~  beeping
their horns
’cause of some problem
up the street…. people talkin’
loudly as they abandon cabs
who due to impatience
would rather walk than sit

can’t sleep now…
but that ain’t nuttin new
gotta head back to Boston
one thing is for sure
the sounds
emblematic of NYC
charm and character
will be replaying
again & again
in my head   ~

Image & Words by   ~Keith Alan Hamilton~
Carlton Arms Hotel (‘Ye Olde Carlton Arms’)

a fence that limits

I fully understand the many obstacles
set as a reminder of what can’t be
the natural landscape of a life
evolved with complexities
at times  ~
like vegetation that evasively dresses
a rock wall……. is capable of forming
a fence that limits
the perspective
by way of mirroring
personal inhibition
upon the lucidity
of circumstance
which ultimately conceives
a sort of tunnel vision….. a blockade
to the doorway
leading to a reality
clear as the sky beneath the clouds
where you and I can….. artistically
create our destiny together  ~

Image & Words by  ~Keith Alan Hamilton~

one flash of magnificence

when you have the realization
you are experiencing
the essence of greatness
no matter how
momentary the happening
a sense of the spiritual
emerges……
all in the cosmos
appears whole   ~
in order
all seems right
and at peace

…..one flash of magnificence
from the tiniest
of creation
a human
can fracture the darkness
part the gloomy sky
with the light of being
being more than yourself
not scared to let all else
know your struggle
through word
image and deed
so all else will have
that opportunity…….
to find meaning and value
be able to grow and heal
all
‘cause
of your example

my ode to you
and the moment we shared
that day
on all of the 928 feet
of the Manhattan Beach Pier

Image & Words by   ~Keith Alan Hamilton~

Dedicated to my fellow artist and dear friend  ~  Madeline Sharples

attention span

I have not cared to note
before this moment
the swoop of your arch
and what perspective of reality
it
may
bring
to my mind
forgive my distraction
life and all its doings
makes my attention span
stretched
out
to its
full breadth
sort of like
you
this branch of a tree
as you reach from the trunk

Image & Words by   ~Keith Alan Hamillton~

don’t bum me out ~ downer

there has to be more
beyond the treetops   ~
the chimney atop the roof
way   ~   way past the cloud
in the blue sky   ~

so I dream for more than…..
what appears to be
and what’s wrong
with that kind of hope…..

….don’t bum me out   ~   downer

Image & Words by   ~Keith Alan Hamilton~

~ hopefully so

the doorway to the inside
where the human-kind
looks out at the world  ~
more than likely the spot
we’ll grow accustom
be held captive
when viewing the future
along the horizon
as drastically disruptive
earth change happens

will we just stare
watch our fate unfold
or do something proactive
find ways  ~
make plans to adapt…..
…..to transition
with a changing
environment
will we undergo
the necessary
transformation
so the human-kind
will survive   ~

~   hopefully so

Image & Words by   ~Keith Alan Hamilton~

Deep Creek to Albemarle Sound

This story poem is dedicated to my muse RLF and her mother Ginny.

as I stand on what is known as
Elizabeth’s Dock…..   just south of    ~
the Deep Creek Lock
a part of the Dismal Swamp Canal System
called by some in times past…. “The Ditches”
my muse walks along the dock
behind me
at times struggling
to keep her balance
for reasons I won’t disclose
about her health
but her efforts inspire me
this little place    ~
she has honored me to visit
is the land of her roots
you see…..   Deep Creek
is where her mother
and her mother’s family are from

I now will help you
better understand
the backdrop
that frames the words
of this story poem
I emotively write……

Chesapeake Virginia 

on this day
as I look south towards
Albemarle Sound in North Carolina
I notice the weathered handrail
on the landside of the dock
the big nails used to hold it together
are like a directional pointer
to the historical information……
a really dismal era
of my country’s past
the tannic colored waters of the canal
symbolically stained
with the blood   ~
sweat
and tears
of my fellow humans
whose evil experience
if evil is a definition of the heavens
the wicked
and senseless defamation
imposed on our own species
to waller in the mud like pigs
up to their necks
to dig a so-called ditch
one scoop at a time
where such mud was not washed off
‘cause they had no blankets
to keep them warm at night
in the horrid Dismal Swamp
or to keep the elements off from them
as described later
by the slave and canal boat handler
Moses Grandy
in his “Narrative
Of the Life Of
Moses Grandy;
Late A Slave
In The
United States Of America”
what a Man
a Hell of a Human Being
who was ripped off
lied to
whipped
watched wife and children
taken away
had to pay for his freedom
3 times……
before he was given it

such recollections
make my knees feel weak
make my stomach feel sick
I suddenly feel ashamed
for being human
and yet
the noble example
of the struggle of my muse
behind me
keeps me standing
instills a will in me
to keep going
have hope
in the human ability
of learning from our mistakes
to push on
for the future of our children
and their children’s children
regardless   ~
the color of their skin

let me stop here
I need to make something clear
about this place I stand
despite the melancholy
that surrounds its tannic
and dismal swamp past
that past
is no longer its present…..

because of those like my muse
which started with her mother
and her mother’s family
before her
I now see a beauty
beholden
to the positive outlook
of the onlooker
and a canal
that borders a swamp
called Dismal
I hope to travel
explore its full landscape
from Deep Creek to Albemarle Sound
the twists and turns
the ditch leading to lake Drummond
and its waters that feed the canal
learn more how the swamp
became part
of the Underground Railroad
when Robert Frost
aimlessly wandered it
‘cause he was heartbroken
over a woman
how it inspired
Edna Ferber to write Show Boat
by reliving the journey of   ~
the James Adams Floating Theater
back and forth
along the Dismal Swamp Canal

yes….   I want to do this all
with my muse some day
out of respect for her struggle
her mother
and her mother’s family
as well as those
my fellow humans
through blood  ~
sweat
and tears
who built its past
and whose efforts
have shaped its present

Image & Words by    ~Keith Alan Hamilton~

This story poem will be a part of the May edition that’s a collaboration by the 2015 Poetry Posse  – The Year of the Poet II published by Inner Child Press.  Buy your monthly copy Here: http://www.innerchildpress.com/the-year-of-the-poet.php