Rooms to let – Collage of Jeff Chiplis Installation by Smith – More detail here
Cleveland born
His first breath was filled
with the dust
from chipped concrete,
he romped on catholic avenue
where four was a few
where English sweated in school.
and tool belts were slung
on back door hooks with sauerkraut
flavored kitchen tables painted
in European colors,
and glass grown tomatoes reflected
melted steels two story molten fires,
on the other side of blue smoke and flame
poured houses poured children
and out of the valley came
hunched men dragging empty lunch pails
up the hills into Tremont,
throughout the valley whistles blew
into the air they breathed.
~ Steve Thomas
Seeing – Steven B. Smith