Author: statenislandlisa

Lisa Nielsen is a single mom living in staten island who is using poetry as a means to get her groove back. She is doing her best to get the words out of her journal and into the world.

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard Response Regret to Desire By Lisa Nielsen Inspiration piece I keep measuring beats but the song is the same The water under the bridge is dark,‎ a brooding season …

 

Lisa Nielsen and Jay Young Gerard

Lisa Nielsen and Jay Young Gerard

Jay Young Gerard “Contusa” Inspiration piece I‎ Felt Something, For A Minute By Lisa Nielsen Response Me half smiling, layering out my scars like pinafores,‎ You leave your fingerprints on me. Go …

 

Lisa Nielsen and
Jay Young Gerard

Lisa Nielsen and
Jay Young Gerard

Jay Young Gerard “Homelessness” Inspiration piece Not the Blight You’re Thinking of By Lisa Nielsen Response i watch your grueling hunchbacked body meandering side to side while frustrated commuters twist about to …

 

Jay Young Gerard
and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard
and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard “ReEmergence” Response scenes from an italian restaurant By Lisa Nielsen Inspiration piece you’ve grown smaller from last I saw you, he is larger than your prize that house you coveted has bars he takes …

 

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard “Golda” Response Another walk, alone By Lisa Nielsen Inspiration piece  I saw a rose half buried in the sand and it still haunts me was this a love letter to …

 

Lisa Nielsen and Jay Young Gerard

Lisa Nielsen and Jay Young Gerard

Jay Young Gerard “Threadbare” Inspiration piece thoughts while twirling angel hair By Lisa Nielsen Response it’s been a long time since i’ve let anything marinate overnight soaked in garlic, parsley, lemon intoxicating the house is …

 

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard “Aerial: Take No Prisoners” Response Reconciliation Baby By Lisa Nielsen Inspiration piece A misshapen attempt at reconciliation Brought you here I can’t possibly tell you this, your existence Borne of not …

 

Lisa Nielsen and Jay Young Gerard

Lisa Nielsen and Jay Young Gerard

Jay Young Gerard “Another Door Opens” Inspiration piece One Door Closes By Lisa Nielsen Response Parched tobacco shreds crumble in my little fingers as I rummage through handbags, carefully translating loose …

 

Lisa Nielsen and Jay Young Gerard

Lisa Nielsen and Jay Young Gerard

Jay Young Gerard “Detritus Has No Soul” Response   I Stood, Longing By Lisa Nielsen Inspiration piece I stood on the edge past the yellow line and the train’s rush daring your anger to push …

 

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard “My Rock and My Redeemer” Inspiration piece Loneliness on a Bitter Sunday By Lisa Nielsen Response I, drifted between gravestones and angel statues, fingering the carved wings; my chest stretched by …

 

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

“It’s Hard to Remain Neutral” Jay Young Gerard Response Lisa Nielsen Inspiration piece The gathering of flesh and blood I am wearing one of her blouses that I am cautioned not to …

 

Lisa Nielsen and
Jay Young Gerard

Lisa Nielsen and
Jay Young Gerard

“Sun Moon Play Me” Jay Young Gerard Inspiration piece Chaos By Lisa Nielsen Response I keep bringing you upon myself: tectonic plates rumbling with turn of the century pipes and ancient tree roots. The …

 

Lisa Nielsen and Jay Young Gerard

Lisa Nielsen and Jay Young Gerard

Jay Young Gerard “Silent Scream” Response A Slice of Americana By Lisa Nielsen Inspiration piece A woman in a cowgirl hat walks with determination to the corner bar There haven’t been horses here …

 

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard “Red White and Blue” Inspiration piece Split By Lisa Nielsen Response Torn from the black tar of waters once greasy with life, the soulless endeavors of the placaters of fortune, having price-tagged …

 

Lisa Nielsen and Jay Young Gerard

Lisa Nielsen and Jay Young Gerard

Jay Young Gerard Red Seeing Red Response Lisa Nielsen Random Thoughts While Waiting for You to Die Inspiration Piece Fear was all the rage when you raged. shrill crescendo punctuated by a …

 

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard Myra’s Niche Inspiration Piece Lisa Nielsen Still Processing Response Mangled and incontinent with leprous bedsores, you are sure this will be estrangement’s undoing. I can watch you suffer for …

 

Lisa Nielsen and Jay Young Gerard

Lisa Nielsen and Jay Young Gerard

Jay Young Gerard “Ascension Takes Time.  And Practice” Response The Composition of Expectations By Lisa Nielsen Inspiration piece I can’t take on gravity while smiling rancid thoughts.     Floating thru your …

 

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard “Palettes 1 and 2” Inspiration piece Survival of the Fittest By Lisa Nielsen Response The art of tuning out Turns a heart to pulp And makes a sin of dance the …

 

Lisa Nielsen and Jay Young Gerard

Lisa Nielsen and Jay Young Gerard

Jay Young Gerard “Center and Right Reflected” Inspiration piece The Art of Loneliness By Lisa Nielsen Response The art of loneliness festoons out in rows of hope’s castaways Not a single impediment left …

 

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard “Coming and Going” Response Tempering the Loss By Lisa Nielsen Inspiration piece I look in that same spot I last saw you: a rickety chair on a rickety porch, your …

 

Lisa Nielsen and
Jay Young Gerard

Lisa Nielsen and
Jay Young Gerard

Jay Young Gerard “And Then What Happened” Inspiration Piece and then what happened By Lisa Nielsen Response A girl pretends to be asleep, her mother runs barefoot across the lobby of the …

 

Jay Young Gerard
and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard
and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard “Calm Up” Response Gravel strewn like breadcrumbs By Lisa Nielsen Inspiration piece Broken cement sprouts chrome and glass and angles reminiscent of Kandinsky Thru the looking glass below sketchy unfinished sidewalks welcome …

 

Lisa Nielsen and Jay Young Gerard

Lisa Nielsen and Jay Young Gerard

Jay Young Gerard Breathing Lessons Response Lisa Nielsen Dropping Back Inspiration Piece That rare expanse of city landscape offered a concrete welcome mat. You use the room to stretch your feet and stare at …

 

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerard Shadows Cool Inspiration Piece Lisa Nielsen The air we breathe Response The air we breathe calculates wind patterns While the dust of twilight and the remains of sunrise coexist between the …

 

Lisa Nielsen and
Jay Young Gerard

Lisa Nielsen and
Jay Young Gerard

Lisa Nielsen “Static Between Stations” Response My Dear Old Familiar By Jay Young Gerard Inspiration piece My Dear Old Familiar* *with apologies to Toni Morrison I now think that perhaps I have always …