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PURCHASE THE DIGITAL COLLECTION (2013)
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HOME 2006-06-04
Liz Tilberis (b. Elizabeth Jane Kelly) B. 10.27.1948 Shirehampton, England / D. 4.21.1990 New York City Ovarian Cancer A long brown raincoat on a warm and sunny afternoon: a wide-cut shouldered raincoat in an umber-dominated rayon blend that still, in portions, iridesces, negotiates, at 23rd and 9th, the intersection. Generously skirted, beltless, semaphoring echoes of a favored courtier�s cloak, in the dissolution of a frieze of flesh and t-shirts the long brown raincoat crosses, south side, west to east. Black plastic garbage bags and bungee cords and wheels outfit a cart, an upright suitcase and a stroller, which bulge at full capacity with mysterious cargo. The raincoat, thus encumbered, awaits the northbound light, back turned to the diner windows. Past the padded shoulders, curly brown hair frizzes, graying; below the hem, slender calves and ankles, stockinged with dirt streaks, descend into the ruins of a pair of running shoes. Cords bind sheaves of newsprint to the wheeled suitcase: and �One day,� my friend recalls, �a big gust of wind took some of her newspapers, she was out these chasing them�as if they were� the coat, the mane, the gams �state secrets.� Maybe she�s suing someone, I suggest. From south to north, of raincoat, wheels, newspapers, bags, and baggage, a successful crossing: landlord or employer, doctor, spouse, police, the mayor, exes or incumbents, for abuse or slander, with avalanche momentum the evidentiary support spills into print but lies ignored. Nobody bothers to tie it together. For each tomorrow the city packs pell-mell and who can count the careless discards? Then once again the long brown raincoat crosses 9th, into the shade beside the toes of London Terrace, leaving bags and baggage moored across the street; then south-wise, striding, 23rd again. Beams of rush hour sunlight find out all the iridescent patches and the dirt streaks look a lot like stockings for the time it takes to cross to where remains another cart, another upright suitcase and another stroller. Every passage twice; every effort doubled, all day long. Two more crossings and the convoy is at last assembled by the iron railings that divide the sidewalk from the lawn beside the housing for retired garment workers that used to be. Consolation Site: Lifetime
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