Excellent An inflected, free-style poem. The Deaths of Bawlmer's Flamingos. by Mike K2 Artwork by Mike K2 on FanArtReview.com

Category:  General Poetry   Posted:  October 23, 2009      Views: 66

ABOUT MIKE K2  Mike playing his Theremin to paint an atmosphere from the ether for the tricker-treaters at Halloween. Want to be nosy? You can look him up on FaceBook as he is under the name, Michael W Kohlman and his profile is public. He communicates through his photo albums. Though you can assertain his age, he considers himself a baby in this world. Despite age and any hardships he still thinks angels exist and guide him! Mike K - Joined FanStory in April 2007 to express a certain love. He welcomes interested people looking through his portfolio. He posts here first because of the great FAnStory community. Back as K2 he wishes to continue on that path and hopes that his writing will reflect it. K2 is also a mountain that tends to claim more men then can claim her. K2 is also a fairly adventurous movie that has friendship behind its theme. -K2's poem, "Sir! I Kneel Down Before You," is published in, "Poems of the World;" Winter 2008-'09. Volume 13 #2- www.poemsoftheworld.com -His poem, "Faith In Springs Abandonment" is published in "Poems Of The World;" Spring Edition Volume 13#3. He won a contest. Durian, God's Send for Knowledge was the first place winner in the contest . He is an accomplished novelist and is currently at the #85 spot on this years rankings. Portfolio | Become A Fan Long ago, at the Baltimore zoo, a story broke on the evening news. Its Pink Flamingos, by youthful offenders, to death were stoned. My father, a Juvenile Services probation officer, "God! I got the feeling that those kids are mine," he moaned. Dad said that if they threw the stones at people, meted out would be less punishment. But what do you do when the Pink Flamingos are killed by Baltimore City Government? Hampden is known as a harsh and tough area, but also has a nice contrast of hard working, working-class people of pride and spirit. Every Christmas, they are known for replicating the, "Miracle of 34 Th Street," with lighting that's gaudy, bold, celebratory and endearing. Denise Whiting, establisher of the, "HonFest," with unbridled pride and owner of the, "Cafe' Hon;" attached to her fire escape, was a twenty foot Pink Flamingo seven years ago, just to have a little fun. From it many people got a kick, others thought it was shick, a twenty foot flamingo is haughty, and it fit in with other Hampden gaudy. Definitely a sight to set your eyes upon, it hit many as a perfect Hampden icon. A landmark hon, to know that yer in Hampden, mildly artistic; and putting a smile on. For the cafe' and Hampden, it was promotional; even featured in a Baltimore City tourism commercial. Not every Hampdenite shared that view, a complaint was the first stone that they threw. Then general services became involved and cited the lady of an over the sidewalk impediment. Even though it was off the ground and didn't interfere with anyone walking on the pavement. Cafe' Hon was cited and told that she could  keep it... Each year, by paying 800 bucks! Her options were to pay up or that Pink Flamingo would be ordered to, "Destruct!" Poor Denise, instead of paying the fee, decided to take it down. So that interestingly abstract Pink Flamingo can no longer be found. She stated, "You can't fight City Hall," but in not doing so is how we become over regulated after all... Share your own writing! - Information on our membership for writers. Author Notes I would like to thank DJ Liquidaters on Harford Road for providing me with the perfect Pink Flamingo at a discounted price for the photographic portion of this project. Please do not comment on the spelling of shick, Hampden prides itself on its accent and it is a light-hearted spelling for cheek. Hampden in Baltimore City is one of those unique areas that have a dual personality. To many people it has the reputation of being a harsh and hard, drug infested area. I am amazed with my poetic endeavors to find something that would create the desire for me to write about it as that was one of the areas that my step daughter ran away to. From the more youthful residents, I received many death threats, the most amusing was that, "I will change my tune when the bullets come flying through the door." I simply said that if they do, they will earn my respect and welcome as a fellow 50cal owner, also one parent from there yelled at me, cursed me out and demand that I gain control over my step daughter. The problem was she was causing the parents to suffer more problems that they had with the teenager son that they couldn't control. Last, a Hampden resident sent a letter from Baltimore City lock up to my step-daughter saying how wonderful anal sex is, complete with an invitation when he somehow manages to get out. I have learned that if God feels a cause is just, after patience and faith, the opportunity will come to rectify a bad situation with amusement, not disdain. I gladly accepted the collect call from the lockup and counseled the man on the dangers of such an act. Then we talked about the health ramifications... The reason that I wrote this is because many of the great people that I meet do come from Hampden. It shows in how decent they are as well as the pride for the area, not hesitating to tell you, "I.m frum Ham-den hon!" Hampden is a working class area and most labor hard for what they have. While they acknowledge the problems that they face, they do their best to strive with in that midst. Established in the 1800's to house workers for the near by cotton and flour mills alone the Jones Falls river. They suffered from decline in the 1920's as the mills moved or closed, yet many of the workers found employment in other parts of the city and remained. Today they have approxamantely 53 shops, 24 bars and eateries and 52 service oriented business, including museums. The avenue is on 36th street, but the surounding streets are commercially developed as well. They are most known for their Christmas display called, "The Miracle on 34 TH Street," which is modeled after the movie. That street made up of row houses, is stringed with lights that run from one house to the other across the street. In addition this is an infinite variety of Christmas lawn adornments, such as a Christmas tree made up of hub caps. The ingenuity and artistic ability is mind boggling. While the traffic is sheer hell on earth during this time, it proved to be a completely positive emotional experience as many row homes open their first floors, festooned with Christmas ornamentation and themes. I felt far more giddy then visiting the best of Museums and far more humbled then touching a Ming vase, going into someone's home that they opened. Hampden in the off-Christmas season is known for it stores that lie on several of its streets. They have a wonderful history and the stores consists of cafe's, boutiques, gallery, retro-clothing and antique book stores, including Atomic Books with is the unofficial contact to the movie producer and actor, John Waters. I don't know exactly how Pink Flamingos figure into Baltimore's psyche, but do know that for a long time, the plastic one's were all the rage. There is even a John Waters production called, "Pink Flamingos." This piece is dedicated to the most important governmental entity of the United States, the individual citizen. Also, this is dedicated against, the government as an independent entity. Very often, regulations are designed with a good intention and common sense; but as time progresses those regulations become perverted and are applied in a mamby-pamby and arbitrary manner, losing the sense of the spirit behind them. In addition, they become simply just another way to over tax people. In addition to various governmental entities, this also applies to community organizations and housing associations. Often, ordinance enforcement relies on complaints being filed, by individuals who have their own motivations. This could include, animosity, revenge of a misplaced sense that no one should have a perceived upper hand, or that all must conform. The most recent case in point and my motivation for this is that Baltimore, openly expressed their desire about being perceive as both a tourist and business friendly city. The reality is that, not only are the same people voted in, time after time; but so many city/state employees are added that the ordinances that they are supposed to enforce become far more convoluted then they should be. The most recent case in point is that Baltimore is trying to control the trash and has established the trash police who have the power to cite and fine. With one business, located by a bus stop, it was determined that they were responsible for the public trash can in front of their store, they were cited for trash being in there that wasn't "pedestrian trash,"; assuming that it was the store putting it in there and not one of the many people that stop at the can adding bags that came from their cars. Then also cited for cleaning their walkway and putting that street trash (now considered their property) into the public trash receptacle. They decided not to clean their walkway and was also cited for that. The fire department sent their community fire station to inspect for infractions and were cited for not having the proper permit to sell lacquer which costs about $360.00. Instead of picking the permit up, they sent it up to a related store up the road who didn't have a permit either; inspected by the same fire company, everything was fine; but they were cited for something else. A business wanted to expand with a new addition to their building and invest a tremendous amount of capital into machine equipment having approved plans, that were stopped for the consideration of a community organization who now wanted landscaping. At the cost of several thousand dollars spent on a landscape architect, they went though many rounds of the approval process. Being on a main city road, many of the bushes were burned out within two weeks due to the amount of dog urine, as there is a pet store next to them. Also, it was used as a crack stash and a place where the prostitutes did their business. Many of the bushes were removed to make it less of a hiding place. It got my goat that the Flamingo was not impeding the public way, yet the city claimed that their consideration also goes vertically, I guess until the FAA takes over jurisdiction... But when the economy hits a downturn and money gets tight as well, the creativity that is needed to create an expanded customer base. The injustice that befalls all, becomes more apparent and people have to fight. To me this is necessary in order to keep a government that serves the best interest of the people, as opposed of for itself. I have to credit the Baltimore Sunpapers for the bulk of the information that is in the poem. Since links aren't permitted on this site, one can find them one the Internet and type in, "Pink Flamingos and Cafe' Hon," to find the articles and photographs of that Flamingo. The comment that Denise Whiting made about not fighting city hall was heard on WBAL Radio News. Another major contributer to this poem was 98ROCK as they took an interest in the story; interviewed Denise Whiting as well the public relations person who said the the complaints came from other business owners who pay their fees, they were told that Cafe' Hon temporally took don the Flamingo to refurbish it while the consider what they will do next, and that the department has been open in providing assistance to Denise to make things easier. But with her comments about the height that pedestrian right of way goes, I wonder if satellites are included? In the latest article from the Baltimore Sunpapers, Baltimore's Mayor Dixon wants to help to get Cafe' Hon's Pink Flamingo back up, criticizing the agency and citing the resulting publicity. Other sites to investagate about Hampdem is Cafe Hon, The Hampdem Village Minvestigateerchants Association, Hon Fest (with pictures", Hampden on Wikipedia and for a video of the Christmas lights and people,"Hampden's Miracle on 34th Street Begins-wjz.com) 10/27/09 Special Report ----- 98 ROCK was at the plaza, just in front of City Hall and set up 2,000 pink flamingo and broadcasted from there. They were very happy for the cities consideration of providing a shelter to broadcast from. It turned out that it was supposed to actually be used by a second gathering permit holder; a counter protest by the Department of General Services them selves. There was a bit of PR fun as General Services joined in the fight for the pink flamingo, also to promote keeping Baltimore Clean. Sporting pink and having flamingos themselves. Mayor Dixon made both an appearance and an announcement. The Mayor stressed the importance of permits, inspectors and ordinances; but acknowledge the flaws in the process, including that very often things appear fine, until someone decides to report them. She promised to include more dynamics into the fold to make this equatable for all involved in the process. She also said that an agreement has been reached to put the Pink Flamingo back up with changing that particular permit structure and reducing the fee. Also now included is a sign off of I-83 to designate the way to Hampden. Many areas have them, but Hampden has been overlooked. Denise Whiting has been very active in the Hampden area for quite some time and many years ago, started displaying art from the building that Cafe Hon is in. Before the Pink Flamingo, there were two other pieces displayed, but Denise decided to keep the Flamingo up when it became known as iconic. Pays one point and 2 member cents.

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