mountebank afternoon
mountebank afternoon (for angele ellis)
contrails fade
sun tries to breathe
life into the old city mission
the art deco era
written in lamppost
watched by eagles
bronzed in way back
the wind across mountebank
afternoon stretches a flag
to the point it could break
then take to the sky
a kite of a freedom imagined
like the leaves that decorate
these hillsides bare trees
Jason Baldinger is a poet and photographer from Pittsburgh, PA. He is the co-editor of Trailer Park Quarterly and co-runs The Odd-Month Reading Series. He’s penned fifteen books of poetry the newest of which include: A History of Backroads Misplaced: Selected Poems 2010-2020 (Kung Fu Treachery), American Aorta (OAC Books) and This Still Life (Kung Fu Treachery) with James Benger. His first book of photography, Lazarus, was just released. He has two ekphrastic collaborations (with poets Rebecca Schumejda and Robert Dean) forthcoming. His work has appeared across a wide variety of online sites and print journals. You can hear him read from various books on Bandcamp and on lps by The Gotobeds and Theremonster.
