Unleash
Reveal the lion inside me
Let me roar an echoing proclamation
I’ll make shadows run for cover
As birds take an early migration
Water will flow upstream
Our ventricles will fill with hydration
The ground beneath us will quake
Swallowing our hearts with a radiant palpitation
End the eternal search
We have found our salvation
Allow these feelings to validate
Secrets turn into affirmation
I stand before you
I stand before everyone on this earth
I stand before every member of every nation
With my deepest declaration,
I proclaim –
Unleash my heart!
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.11.11.18:40:59@323NYC
Unlock
With a wooden spoon, stir the tea
In a hidden safe, put away the key
Venturing into the unknown
No more days of being alone
Inside your heart I’ve started a fire
You’ll never forget my eyes of sapphire
No sense in blocking the unconventional
These emotions are multidimensional
Delete the borders and erase the distance
Surrender to your own resistance
I’ve escaped the artificial
Everything with you is beyond celestial
We’ll orbit the sun, the moon, and the stars
This warmth heals our internal scars
Our breathless silence shall pass
My affection for you will last
As witness to my eyes
I’ll harmonize your midnight cries
Put away your defense
Hand in hand we shall commence
This love is now for hire
Have I found a repeat buyer?
My heart is yours, I will never sever
Take it and occupy it forever
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.11.10.24:11:43@130BklynNYC
Complications Of Heart Surgery
Sadly, earlier today, artist David Greg Harth died of complications from heart surgery. Harth was scheduled for what was supposed to be a routine procedure. Harth was following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, when at the young age of 36, he was to undergo a triple bypass procedure at NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia University Medical Center. While the surgery went smoothly, Harth never woke up from anesthesia while in the intensive care unit and died in a state of unconsciousness. Harth is survived by his loving wife and two children. There will be a public memorial held this coming Sunday at one of Harth’s favorite places for French toast, NoHo Star in lower Manhattan. The family requests that in lieu of words of sympathy or flowers, one could make donations in his name to the American Foundation For AIDS Research or The American Academy of Neurology Foundation.
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.11.06.16:16:05@130BklynNYC
The Emperor Has Returned
Emerging from silence
One thousand years forgotten
He becomes tranquil
Among past thieves
With pheasants roaming
And doves aviating
The Emperor has returned
Awakened from a deaf suspension
Awakened from a blind desolation
Emerging from secrecy
Time became irrelevant
He becomes euphoric
Among past maidens
With comrades commandeering
And enemies vanishing
The Emperor has returned
Awakened from a still coma
Awakened from a written dogma
Quest of the darkest deep
Shattering the ground beneath
Has interrupted this very sleep
His warriors end the pursuit
From latitude and longitude
They’ve given up the route
Endless to the very end
Beyond the cliffs of paradise
Only now he may transcend
The Emperor has returned
Awakened from an untimely death
Birthed once more into locus amoenus
With this kiss he has one more breath
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.11.01.23:11:39@130BklynNYC
Uncharted Territory
For over three decades
I have treaded in the ocean
I have surfed each available sea
I have searched multiple continents
And I have scurried lands far and wide
With each nautical map I follow
My sails have always led me towards you
My bow always pointed me towards you
Each direction given
Each wind blown
I was just a lost man on a voyage
Now found
In this uncharted territory
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.10.31.12:55:59@130BklynNYC
List of 10: Women I thought I was in love with
1. Alice
2. Cheryl
3. Tanya
4. Jessica
5. Estella
6. Jane
7. Phoebe
8. Wendy
9. Camille
10. Allison
Note: Names have been changed to protect the identity of those mentioned
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.10.27.22:15:09@130BklynNYC
List of 10: Women I was in love with
1. Mary
2. Jude
3. Abigail
4. Tiffany
5. Joyce
6. Hillary
7. Nicole
8. Veronica
9. Gina
10. Deborah
Note: Names have been changed to protect the identity of those mentioned
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.10.27.22:14:09@130BklynNYC
Beginning (Version #2)
Sometimes
The wind sweeps
And creeps up behind you
Knocks you off your feet
So unexpectedly
You drift and float
Into the sky
With the ground no longer in your sight
You just glide
From cloud to cloud
Riding the breeze
At the journey’s beginning
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.10.21.11:00:16@130BklynNYC
Frost
Frost
Chilling up my spine
Executing my mortality
Frost
Delivering the final blow
Echoing my dreams into eternity
Frost
Deleting my memories
My bones being pulled by gravity
Frost
Catapulting my fantasies
Interfering with my true destiny
Frost
Wishing I was never erect
My heart is always an empty cavity
Frost
Transporting my mind everywhere
Emotions in an uncontrollable velocity
Frost
Claiming what is rightfully mine
Taking early my innocent fidelity
Frost
Losing control to pressure
Giving up my sanity
Frost
Exquisite corpse cold to the touch
I have no immunity
Frost
Now that I’ve been dismembered and disemboweled
Love and Life is filled with absolute clarity
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.10.07.16:37:17@130BklynNYC
New York
I.
Right now, and here
New York is under threat
But I have no fear
I cannot think of anywhere for me
There is no place else
I’d rather be
I love this city
This tranquil greyness
In all its passionate gritty
I see that beacon of light
Embracing ten years past
Calling me to remembering that sight
When all of humanity looked this way
I smelled the burning of steel and flesh
For weeks to stay
Rare the time to pause or walk slow
This is my New York
Strong and firm we’ll forever grow
II.
I love to be a
Minority on the subway
I love that I could go
A day without speaking
My native language
Reading my native script
Or seeing someone the same race as me
And yet still be at a place I call home
I love these Hindus and Buddhists
Jews and Muslims
Catholics and Protestants
Mormons and Native Americans
I love these Chinese and Japanese
Italians and Irish
Germans and Polish
Mexicans and French
Palestinians and Yemenites
Israelis and Argentineans
Indians and Iranians
I’ve never known love
Until I lived in this city
It’s mangled grids
Of horn honking cabbies
Its unions of construction workers
And mobbed-run bakeries
Its high art in Chelsea
And low in Williamsburg
Its corner Halal carts
And fleet of food trucks
Its underground rats
And over ground roaches
Its green parks and winter storms
Its Dumbo, Tribeca, and NoLita
Its Riverdale, Brighton, and Woodside
Its H&H Bagels, Shake Shack Burgers, and Nathan Hot Dogs
Its Omas & Opas
III.
We are cultural warriors
A fortress of differences
Always united and proud
To be a “New Yorker”
There is no tomb
Id rather be in
But in the tomb of
The grey skyscrapers
And brownstones
That line my city’s streets
When New York falls
The world watches
When New York rises
The world watches
This is not America
This is New York
The city I love
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.09.18.21:11:49@130BklynNYC
Twelfth Floor
The eleventh floor was always an escape
An answer to the everyday illusion and imprisonment
But it wasn’t the quickest way down
It was that open window
During that winter day in the middle of January
You could barely make out the Hudson River
Blossoms came early
We’d dodge the doctor’s orders
And cheek our medications
We’d joke about the lonely man who later died on the floor
And the guy that looked like Kramer who did the Thorazine shuffle
Or the teenager who constantly washed his hands over and over
It was just me, a Guy, and The King, and Little Rich with the plantains.
Betty caught me touching myself once while in the shower.
These are the things I remember.
That’s a lie.
I remember everything and a lot more than I’ll ever share with you
Because you are just a reader of words
Not a reader of my heart
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.09.02.03:31:20@130BklynNYC
207th Street and the Sound of Crickets
It was usually a Sunday
Sometimes a Saturday
I would ride the A-train
All the way up North
To the very last stop
I don’t recall reading much
On those trips
Quite often I would listen
To my Walkman
Years later my Discman
Until finally my iPod
Usually, I would make a day of it
I would leave early in the morning
Stay for lunch and depart just before dinner
But there were times
That I came for dinner instead
For some reason
I had fond memories
Of your tuna fish salad
It really was perfect
Better than Dad’s
Better than my own
I remember you bringing me some
When I was at school
You’d make a big tub of it
Packed tightly in
Recycled rainbow sherbet plastic containers
- Delicious!
I regret a few things though
Even though I probably visited you the most
I regret not seeing you even more
I cherished the naps we took together
Hours long, and that would be my visit
I regret not kissing you on your lips
I know our whole family does it
As a loving “Hello” or “Goodbye” greeting
But for some reason I never got used to it
Even Jordan kisses me on my lips
And I feel weird
Like that kiss is only for
My partners whom I have
An intimate relationship with
But as I reflect,
I wish I had kissed you on the lips
I certainly very much
Enjoyed holding your hands
Anytime, anywhere
And how our thumbs danced
I now have passed that
On to Sophie and Jordan
- Tight Squeeze -
I regret not meeting the
Love of my life
Before you both died
I know it’s something
You both wanted for me very much
But you know I try
It’s just almost impossible
For a woman to capture my heart
The lessons of love
You shared with me are invaluable
You were the Prince and Princess Bride
You were Hawkeye and Cora
You were Rome and Juliet
You were Oma and Opa
The other day,
I was standing on an
Outside subway platform
It was an unexpected cooler day
Among what has been a
Hot sticky summer
It was early evening
And I was headed to
Manhattan to have dinner
With Christine, whom you both met (and liked – loved)
The crickets were out
Chirping and singing their songs
They reminded of you
Two
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.08.17.22:33:00@QTrainAtlanticAveBklynNYC
Ownership
I’ve presented myself
I’m vulnerable, standing alone in this cave of life
I’ve completely given myself to you
I’m defenseless, treading alone in this sea of life
It’s up to you
To take up space in my atriums and ventricles
Keep me warm and glowing
From the inside out
As you already do
Nest in my chambers
For my chambers you have claimed
And my chambers belong to you
© 2011 David Greg Harth
10.12.07.15:34:45@550MadisonNYC
11.08.08.21:22:47@130BklynNYC
My Compass
You are my greatest north and due east,
My golden west and escaped south
You are my gravity, yet let me fly
You give me reason, and set me free
You are my warming sun and shining moon
My beginning dawn and concluding dusk
You give me breath, yet take it away
You are my shelter, and my Eden
You are my vital discovery and courageous sea
My radiant horizon and forgiving sky
You are the cure to my endless yearn
The key to my lock
When all directions point to you
You are my compass
Without you, I am lost
With you, I am found
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.08.03.23:46:17@130BklynNYC
Diving
I love diving
There is something so magnificent
About the way your body
Parts through the water
Upon landing
I love diving
There is something so majestic
About the way your body
Parts through the sky
Upon drifting
I love diving
There is something so morbid
About the way your body
Parts through the stillness
Upon the tracks
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.08.02.21:50:20@130BklynNYC
My Body (Failing)
If you asked me what I did today, I would tell you this:
I mounted a circular saw blade on the wall
In such a fashion that the blade sticks outward from the wall
Instead of flat against the wall
In this position, I was satisfied and hopeful
To rid myself of my constant pain
I lined myself up with the blade
I bent my head backwards
Leaning towards the ceiling
And then with one powerful thrust
I whip my head forward against the circular saw blade
And smack my head against its sharp edges
The blade cuts through my forehead
Only three inches in
I managed to penetrate the skull
But this did not solve my pain
I got out two buckets
Filled them with water
I took off my shoes
And I sat on a wooden chair
I placed each foot in a bucket of water
I then plugged in two hair dryers
I turned them on
And dropped a hair dryer in each bucket
Electrocution hurts!
But this did not solve my pain
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.07.18.18:52:32@323711NYC
Hotel de Ville, Room 3272
No corpse
Can be as exquisite as yours
If my memory fails
The trail of your perfume
Still remains and reminds
An evening of no delay
The moment was forever
Our tongues spoke different languages
Our hearts were seized in unison
We surrendered to the storm
Of illegal imagination
I lowered the shades
And the night became ours
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.07.10.09:55:00@MontrealQC
Künstler Selbstmord
Women with razor blades
Art world confetti with blindness
Impersonators with hatchets
Employers with chainsaws
Lovers with incised war clubs
Self-inflicted amputations
Drowning in constant tears
Overshadowed in perfect sunlight
Daily migraines and hourly headaches
Teeth falling from the sky
Banquet of thieves
Matriarchy conspiracy
Endless masturbation
Sweet addictions
Pussy affections
Living a nightmare
Neurological disaster
Spiraling downfall
Refusal of participation
Concrete negativity
Searching for eleven
Attempting graphite
Tempting illegal love
Powerful reason gone
Three remain irrelevant
Writings incomplete
Tasting enemies
Symphonic conclusion
Crucial termination
Thy third alchemical step
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.06.30.02:03:22@130BklynNYC
Winter Approaches
I feel this cold stillness
I put on my over coat
Over my shirt and over my sweater
I wrap my neck in a scarf
And I put my knitted hat on my head
Winter approaches
What have I accomplished?
But only another year
Of not killing myself
I suppose a rejoice should be had
For that in itself
May be considered
The greatest accomplishment of all
© 2011 David Greg Harth
11.06.30.01:13:18@130BklynNYC