Winter: Pot Bound

Purple blossoms wither
fold upon yellow anthers
damp soil, jealous skies
tinted windows conspire
to encase the masses
organized in vertical
cubicles and Gucci
running knots, a red
balloon floats outside
long white strand
loose slopes, follows
along, steady higher
past the icy snow
frozen in the corners
of building tops that
careen down, shatter
across sidewalks
glittering fragments.

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

An Air of Abandonment

While a cup of tea grows cold
cops with assault rifles stand
on the corner of Broadway
we are meant to feel safe
their presence, my teeth on
edge, passing in a wide berth
broad smiles for the camera
tourists click, shutter, and stand
behind the metal partitions
there is safety in numbers
how many exactly will calm
the mob mentality on a threat-
level-orange winter day?


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

I'm thinking about the demonstration happening in Egypt tonight and I'm nervous about it.  Even though the military has reassured the protesters that they will not attack...my stomach is tied up in knots over them. May they be safe, may they be safe, may they stay safe are the words that run through my head.  The protests are necessary. Civil disobedience is necessary for change to occur. Yet, all I can see in the long term is that this is only the beginning.  I'm not just talking about Jordan and Egypt.  I'm thinking about humans on a global scale and the way people are becoming more desperate as  the chasm between the haves and the have-nots continue to widen. The collective consciousness knows things cannot keep going the way they are going and changes must occur.  May we find some peace in these growing struggles.


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.