Anti-War March, New York City:

Mike Scharf and I wondering what it would be like if the blades locked on the helicopters hovering above the crowd: plummeting.

The guy crossing us as we approached 42nd St. saying "think about September 11th." I say "you’re misinformed!"

Lee Ann Brown breast feeding her child as she marched against war.

The swinging Dixieland clarinet player.

The 95 year-old woman in a motorized wheelchair protesting with the crowd.

The group of nuns next to the group of gay teenagers.

The rippling waves of cheers moving over Broadway.

Chanting at the NBC truck: "Tell it like it is! Tell it like it is!"

The roving percussionists.

The poets of different "camps" and ages, together.

The woman on the balcony at Broadway and 27th blowing a conch shell. Her four-year old daughter coming out on to the balcony defiantly, demanding the shell, and then playing it even louder than her mother -- to the vivid cheering of the marchers.

Literally dancing in the street.

Purposeful.

The weird tape loop emanating from the police van at the end of the march at Washington Square Park: "The march is now over. Please leave the area, and let the other marchers finish, as you have done." Exactly the don’t -pay -attention -to -the man -behind -the -curtain –tone of voice.

The calm, bored, irritated look on the faces of the police.

"Hussein, Bin Laden, Pinochet, all created by the CIA!"

The lack of ANY story about the march in the print version of the New York Times.

Guaranteed access for The New York Times "newspaper." Great footage.

New York Times is wholly owned and operated by the US state department.

I associate the word "embedded" with deer ticks.

Nada Gordon writing down the slogans of the marchers.

Marianne Shaneen filming, filming.

At Union Square, the emotion of the thing finally hitting me. Suddenly a good slogan occurs to me "Invest in Haliburton now! You’ll make a Killing!"

Very disoriented shoppers at Herold Square.

Is being a protester now like a being a poet. You do this thing that makes so much sense to you, that you are so committed to, and that seems so valuable, and you and everyone with you, is totally and effortlessly ignored.

New tactics?

The guy in the bunny suit.

Arriving at Washington Square Park at 4:30. Not wanting to leave.

Futility or a river of sanity? Or both?

Seeing poets more at protests than at readings.

Headline:
POETS STOP WAR AND REMOVE DANGEROUS ASSHOLES FROM POWER,
NEW WORLD-WIDE ANARCHO-PACIFIST ATHEISTIC CREATIVE HEDONISM PREVAILS, Sat, March 22, New York City:

Ann Waldman. Ron Pagett, Ammiel Alcalay convince Donald Rumsfeld to stop the war and step down.

Simon Pettet, Mike Scharf, Toni Simon convince Paul Wolfowitz to stop the war and step down.

Nick Piombino, Mitch Highfill, Sue Landers convince Dick Cheney to stop the war and step down.

Allison Cobb, Katie Degentesh, Nada Gordon convince George Bush to stop the war and step down.

Marianne Shaneen, Sherry Brennen, Cecilia Vicuna convince Richard Perle to stop the war and step down.

Brenda Iijima, Jeff Derksen, Lee Ann Brown convince Colin Powell to stop the war and step down.

Carol Mirakove, Jen Coleman, Gary Sullivan convince Condoleeza Rice to stop the war and step down.

Brian Stefans, Karen Weiser, Joe Safdie convince Tommy Franks to stop the war and step down.

The sun pouring down on the stream of humans in the street…