hpmc spring 2011 newsletter

Highway Poets News

Highway Poets Newsletter - Issue 1 - Spring 2011 All works within these pages are copyright by there respective authors

And may not be reproduced without permission from the artist

Highway Poets MC

National Secretary Eddie Sorez

Vice National Secretary Ironhorse Writer

Membership Secretary Bikerwolf

Vice Membership Secretary Lizzard Smith

Vice Treasurer Moshe

HPMC News Editor/Correspondence SecretaryMarysusan-WilliamsMigneault

Contributing Artists List Of Culprits Blaze ElliottBikerwolfSpike SorezPeddlarRusty SprocketGypsypashnMosheTim HayesChris Zagst

Newsletter StaffSpike & Sorez Back Cover Photo by Spike

WELCOME !

The Members of the Highway Poets Motorcycle Club welcomes you to it’s 2011 edition of the Highway Poets News! Re-established after many years and miles of riding down the literary highway, the HPMC News hopes to continue on the good will tradition the original newsletter established back in the 90’s. To promote the art and artists of the Highway Poets Motorcycle Club as well as it’s friends and riding/writing, photo taking milestone making biker family. HPN takes no political position on any Club matters on these pages and any such items should be addressed as private Club business. Thank you to all who submitted their work to this issue as it is a Club project and the members and friends of the Highway Poets Motorcycle Club is what this newsletter is about. We hope to shine the spotlight on Brothers and Sisters works, their accomplishments and achievements, as we all ride on down the Biker Poets Highway together as members and friends of the Highway Poets Motorcycle Club! ~ Sorez

National Secretary

Highway Poets Motorcycle Club

Rusty Sprocket Retires

Recently I adopted two miles of a local road for litter clean-up, and PeimDOT put up a sign that gives credit to one of the groups I'm most active with.. .the Highway Poets Motor-Cycle Club. At least four times a year I clean up my two-mile stretch of roadway and I've learned some things about people and what they toss from their vehicles... including bikes."Paper or plastic, Sir?" Yes...and metal and glass and cloth and ceramic.. .but mostly cigarette butts. There are, literally, seven to ten of these "little white blights" for each beer, soda or power-drink can that I pick up.And they aren't all from slob cagers. I've seen local bikers cruisin' the neighborhood, smokin' as they're ridin'...a few with full, bushy beards. While I'm of the bearded persuasion myself^ I can't imagine a lit smoke between my teeth, riding into the wind with a glowing coal an inch or so from my whiskers!! How could that not be a distraction??More scarce are riders smoking cigars, but I have seen a few.. .and I've seen two riders smoking pipes. From a surely litter-conscious viewpoint, cig^r butts are a bit easier to pick up when you're wearing those road-crew mandated gloves they prescribe. As to pipe smokers, you might not even recognize what they drop on the road. When they finish with their pipe, they clunk it on their riding boot, and out pops the used up dottle, lookin' like a miniature road apple. Hey, if you riders out there don't know what a "dottle" or a "road apple" is.. .well, you sure won't find out from a Road Crew Manual

On behalf of the Highway Poets Motorcycle Club Members, families and friends, we all wish Walt Reichner AKA Rusty Sprocket fair weather and fresh blacktop on his continued journey through this highway called life. Rusty’s contribution to his community on behalf of the Highway Poets Motorcycle Club seen in the picture below will go down in Highway Poets History! Rusty continues sharing his ride down the literary highway through his monthly feature in White Line online Motorcycle Magazine, Poems From The Pavement which can be found at: http://www.whitelinemagazine.com/

Highway Poets Highway Poets Highway Poets Highway Poets Motorcycle ClubMotorcycle ClubMotorcycle ClubMotorcycle Club

America’s Only Bike Club Of Published Journalists



The Biker Poetry of Bikerwolf

FINAL THOUGHTSBy: Bob "Bikerwolf" Bryant

We watched as he listened to the wind

Told us it beckoned his nameHis heart as always was still readyBut his body was riddled by pain

His mind drifted as he closed his eyes

His mind reversed cruel timeHe saw his hair a little longerHe saw a young lady so fine

He remembered the feel of the cool summer nights

He could feel the winding roadsHe tasted the lips of his young lover

He remembered the biker code

He relived the nights underneath the starsThe feeling of brotherhood in the airHe had longed for that feeling againIn the days when there were no cares

He felt a feeling come over his bodyAs he saw her sweet face once again

The night the angel of death told him“She’s been waiting for you my friend”

You could hear the thunder in the sky that night

You could feel the wind blow freeYou could tell he was riding beside the reaper

His free arm resting on her knee

The WindowBy : Bob Bikerwolf Bryant

He stood at the mirror

Looked into the eyes of his imaged faceHe hadn’t aged gracefullyHis life was too fast paced

He saw the years of ridingDrinkin’, fighting and suchHe was older than his age

But it didn’t bother him that much

He thought back, to the bikesHe’d had throughout the years

Thought of the hours wrenchingReplacing bearings, chains and gears

He thought of the women

That had vowed their love for himHow when they couldn’t tame himThey would cry and cuss the wind

He thought of people that he’d met

While travelin’ life’s highwayThought how most were pretty righteous

Remembered the assholes he met some days

He thought of hard work he put inAt different towns along the way

He thought how his callused handsComplimented his weathered face

He remember the years he had wasted

Sitting behind the barsThought of how when they set him free

He slept underneath the stars

He snapped back to realitySaid to himself “It must be true”

“The eyes are the window to the soul”“If you look you can see right through”



Clean Plate

Clean Slate

I have too much on my plate. Most of it empty calorie crap. No nutritional value. Why am I eating this? I will gain nothing from it but weight. No benefit to mind, body, or soul. Time to dispose of it.

I get up from the table and head for the kitchen. I get up from my chair and head for the garage.

I shovel the garbage off my plate into the Dispose-All. I put on my chaps, my jacket, my gloves.

I flip the switch under the sink. I turn the key in the ignition.

I hear a grinding rumble, and the sink shakes. I hear a rumbling purr, and my soul trembles.

I turn the water on and it washes the discarded remnants of the meal down the drain. I toss my head, the wind in my hair, rushing in in my ears, erases the rejected remains of the day.

The Ballad of Spike

Come ‘n listen to a story ‘bout a girl name Spike. She road far and near on her Harley Sporster bike. Then one day, she can’t quite remember when. She found she could call forth a song out of a pen.

Rhymes that is. Cool prose. Po-e-try.

Well next thing you know, ‘ole Spike’s a member of The Highway Poets, don’t you know. A motorcycle club. Her kinfolk said, come with us and you will be, A respectable Biker Poet, and you’ll read in Beverly.

MASS that is. The White Whale. No movie stars.

Well now it’s time to say “Hello” to Spike and all her kin. We’d really like to thank you all for kindly droppin’ in. We’re riddin’ and we’re writin’, that’s what Highway Poets do. So we can bring our stories from the road right here to you.

~ by Lisa “Spike” Hourigan ~~ by Lisa “Spike” Hourigan ~~ by Lisa “Spike” Hourigan ~~ by Lisa “Spike” Hourigan ~

From Gypsypashn;

The "Diamond Posse", a veteran's outreach program consisting of three women 'dynamos', Vicki "Spitfire" Sanfelipo, "Cat" Hammes, and Amy "Diva" Skaling have asked me (Betsy "Gypsy" Lister) to join and assist them in their latest fundraiser for veterans. We have partnered with NEADS (http://www.NEADS.org Dogs for the Deaf and Disabled), and their 'Canines for Combat Veterans Program'. NEADS,a Massachusetts based nonprofit program trains service dogs for disabled veterans and other Americans in need. Our mission this year is to raise $20,000 it will take to be able to gift a disabled veteran a service dog. Diamond Posse will officially launch their fundraising efforts on March 31st at Arizona Bike Week; where we will meet, and greet, and share our vision with fellow riders our passion for riding, and for supporting those who have served the United States of America. The public is invited to stop by to say hello to us, check out our bikes, our stories, our vision for this year's fundraiser, and learn more about Diamond Posse and NEADS. The web site once up and running will track the progress of choosing the dog, naming the dog, the dog's training, what events we'll be present at; and our progress towards our goal. You can follow our movements once the web is up and running with this year's information. http://www/diamondposse.us or http://www.diamondposse.org. Around September 3rd this year, I will leave Boston on my motorcycle, (with posse in tow) Amy (Diva) will leave CA on hers., Vicki (Spitfire) and Cat will leave WI on theirs with their respective posses, and we'll ride and converge in, Kansas City MO, stopping along route at various VA centers to thank veterans for their service; and to let them know that we care and are trying to make their lives better. Our travels will be followed by a professional photographer. In Kansas City there'll be a tribute rally held on Saturday September 10th, sponsored by Gail's HD, and a huge ride the next day on 9/11. We've been invited to be celebrity riders at this event; and they've have pledged some benefaction from the event to our cause! It would be an honor to be joined by other women (and men) on this journey for either the entire trip, or meet up with each posse along the way and continue on to Kansas City. If you or someone you know is interested in joining any one of us for this worthwhile journey, please let me know! Veterans have always been near and dear to me; and helping them to get the recognition, homage, thanks, benefits and services they deserve is a part of what I've devoted myself to since 1967 when I became engaged to my husband Richard, a 100% disabled Vietnam Veteran! For the past 15 years each weekend I've compiled a POW/MIA Veterans eZine that's delivered to veterans all over the country. As a Patriot Guard Rider and an Associate Member of two Marine Corps League Detachments, and a full member of the MCL's Honorable Few riding detachment I continue to work to benefit veterans and veterans causes on a regular basis. I will be forever honored, humbled and blessed to work diligently as an advocate for veterans! I want to get the word out to others about the challenges they face, network on their behalf, to make their lives better and play an integral role in their recovery." It is because of their service that we enjoy the freedoms we have today! We've got a busy schedule ahead of us, and each of these women are phenomenal and fantastic at setting sights on lofty goals and attaining them!!Won't you assist us in our plight? Those that would like to send donations may make checks payable to "Diamond Posse", but send to me at: Betsy *Gypsy* Lister P O Box 496 Medford, MA. 02155 Services donated are welcomed as well! http://diamondposse.org/Home.html



~ Blaze Elliott ~~ Blaze Elliott ~~ Blaze Elliott ~~ Blaze Elliott ~ about lust and the leper

***

when first i laid eyes on her

all stretched out on the floor

I knew i had the means at hand

and i was gonna score

decked out in black and silver

with just a touch of gold

her seat in hand stitched leather

a black chain slung real low

sweet lord she made me lusty

I had to have this bitch

she'd snared me with that classy look

the one that makes you itch

I did my best to turn her on

she's one cold hearted whore

i kicked her cause she likes it rough

she laughed and begged for more

i stuck my finger in her hole

and snuffled at her dew

then slid my hand along her ass

and snuffled at that too

i rubbed my crotch all over her

she didn't seem to mind

and mounted her from either side

and even from behind

i'd never paid for one before

i feel i must defend

i rode her hard and made her scream

she hurt me in the end

i've never felt a tail so soft

she's just turned twenty one

i think i'll go and pump her full

and take her on a run ***

blaze

9.26.5 dedicated to the leper, my '84 harley davidson softail



The Simple Life A decent job to pay the bills A ride to call my own A righteous ol' lady waiting for me Whenever I get home An open road with cagers few On a brisk cold sunny day An open door with welcoming arms And a warm embrace A moonlit highway A fresh paved road Another gear up on the throttle The simple life is the one I live As long as there's roads to be traveled Today/Tomorrow

Today I won't be riding For those who have gone down And taken their last ride On down the highway For those who face downtime Whatever the reason Another lost season Doing everything they can To get back in the wind For the sidewalk commandos Maturing with pride Learning to wrench and Building their rides For those locked down..

..Tomorrow I will ride for those.

Down And Out

As you pass me byUpon your ride

I'll extend my handDown and out

AcknowledgingDoes not matterWhat you ride

Can get killed just as quickOn a Jap, a Hog, a Brit

We share a common bondThe wind and the roadA breed apart we areNot trapped in a cage

We share the same windThe same road

Two wheels or threeDoesn't matter to me

If you pass me byUpon your ride

Extend your handAs I do mine

~ Sorez The Scribe ~Sorez The Scribe ~Sorez The Scribe ~Sorez The Scribe ~





Biker Poets To The Library!Verse And Steel

The Biker Poets and Writers AssociationAnthology

Of Biker PoetryEdited by K. Peddlar Bridges

Co-EditorsM.S. Williams Migneault and Eddie Sorez



BIKER POETS TO THE LIBRARY! ....From the Editors of Roadpoet eMagazine ... K. Peddlar Bridges, Roadpoet eMagazine Editor, Highway Poets co-Founder, and former Poet Laureate andColumnist for the Connecticut Cruise News has announced that Roadpoet eMagazine in conjunction with theHighway Poets Motorcycle Club will hold a Riding Season Campaign from May first, 2011 to September 15th,2011 to place as many place as many VERSE and STEEL, Bikerpoetry Anthologies in local public libraries aspossible. Roadpoet eMagazine's 2010 National Bikerpoetry Month theme was (The Open Road ... The Open Road;)for the 2011 Roadpoet eMagazine's National Bikerpoetry Month theme will be, (Bikerpoets to The Library!)VERSE and STEEL is the Biker Poets and Writers Associations second Bikerpoetry Anthology and waspublished in August 2010 in celebration of Roadpoet eMagazine's sixth annual National Bikerpoetry Month.In August 2010 Roadpoet eMagazine along with the Highway Poets MC and the Bikerpoets and WritersAssociation held a number of Bikerpoetry readings from Portland Maine to New York State including a VERSEand STEEL book release party held at the White Whale Coffee House in Beverly Mass. The VERSE and STEEL Anthology features the work of over two dozen Bikerpoets, Writers andPhotographers including the work of over a dozen present and former Highway Poets MC members, as well asConnecticut Cruise News Publisher and Owner Donald Clady. Roadpoet eMagazine Editors and the Highway Poets MC members are striving to place the VERSE andSTEEL Bikerpoetry Anthology in local public libraries in an effort to raise public awareness of Bikerpoets andWriters as talented and educated artists, as well as raising the awareness of American youth that Poets, Writersand Artists, besides living a life of study and literary work, can also live a life of action and adventure. The special library copies of the VERSE and STEEL Anthology will be emblazoned with a Gold sticker onthe outside of the cover stating (Special Library Copy ) and an inside sticker with Highway Poets' MC keystonelogo along with, the words above the Key Stone reading "This Anthology has been placed in your LocalLibrary though the Highway Poets MC and Roadpoet eMagazine," and the words below the keystonereading, " By (..............) with either or ... "and Family," or "In memory of ...." Highway Poets members, Friends, Roadpoet eMagazine and Connecticut Cruise News readers who wouldlike to help join in this years National Bikerpoetry Month celebration "Bikerpoets to The Library," can have acopy of VERSE and STEEL with the appropriate stickers placed in and on the Anthology and signed by at leastone of the Anthology's Editors or Writers can send $19.95 for a copy of the Anthology, stickers and shippingand handling, that will be sent to the local Library of their choice, by contacting VERSE and STEEL Co-Editors, Sorez the Scribe at [email protected] or MarySusan Williams-Migneault at [email protected] or Editor Peddlar at [email protected] or by sending $19.95 to have a copy of the Anthology sent to the local public Library of their choice and the appropriate stickers and a personal, (Thank You!) letter sent to their address can contact VERSE and STEEL Co-Editor, Sorez the Scribe at [email protected] The Members of the HPMC and Roadpoet eMagazine editors hope to place a least 100 copies of the theVERSE and STEEL Bikerpoetry Anthology across America, to rides hundreds of miles and to feature in nearlytwo dozen events, readings Bikerpoetry publishing's As part of the 2011 National Bikerpoetry monthcelebrations.Wish us Luck and Hope to see you there,Best Miles and Verses ...K. Peddlar Bridges.



IN HEAVEN ... by K. Peddlar Bridges

In Heaven Old Bikes run foreverAnd Old Bikers last the same

And you don't need to carry Spare PlugsAll you carry in your Tool BagIs your Dreams

In Heaven there's only Six WeeksTo the YearOne For Daytona One For LaconiaOne For SturgisAnd One Week Between each for the Ride to the next …

For in Heaven The Season Never EndsIN HEAVEN ...

In Heaven Old Cars run foreverAnd Old Car Drivers last the same

And you don't need to carry a Spare TireFor all you carry in your trunk is your Dreams

And Full Service Stations are still on every Corner With Standing Attendants at the PumpsAnd though you never need GasolineYou still stop at the Pumps For the Smile. And Every Night is a Cruise NightAnd Every Night is a Drive-In ShowAnd you never see a Sign that says -... CLOSED FOR THE SEASON ...

For In Heaven

The Season Never Ends.

Living The LifeRoad To Redemption by Sorez

They say that I'm crazyMust be insane

Out there ridingIn thirty degree rain

Started out this mornin'With frost on my sledAs long as she startsI don't mind it a bitWind chill was 20Frost on my beardLayers of leatherTwisting the wick

Was down for so long Every mile counts

My road to redemptionI'm riding no doubt

Verse And Steel ~~~>

Rubber Side Down

Thirteen Voyagers by Patricia Hope

Thirteen Voyagers Carve Space Though Evergreen Passes Roads ending In Rhododendron Million-year-old mountains

~Excerpts~~Excerpts~~Excerpts~~Excerpts~



Life and death in the streets~Moshe

There is a couple that I met, while working in the needle exchange, that I can’t get out of my mind. You might say that I am haunted by ghosts of the past. They were in their early sixties, homeless, and they had come up during the warmer weather. They liked Massachusetts best but they wintered in Florida.

Snowbirds. That's the expression people have for those who have a condo in Florida and then another condo in the Northeast. Unfortunately, this couple had no condo in either place, but they traveled and camped. They didn't have children, so when they stayed at a shelter, they couldn't sleep together.

Love can be tough, sometimes, for people who have money and a nice place to live. Try to imagine, if you can, love thriving in poverty, living only in the heart and spirit, but having no roof to keep out the rain or the snow.

But their love survived.

Life on the streets. It can be tough for anyone, but for a woman, it can be downright dangerous. A fairly decent-looking woman can always find a place to sleep - for a price. That price may be higher than she thinks, but she'll pay it anyway.

In my early recovery, I shared an apartment with two other folks, a man and a woman. It was unique for me to have my own bedroom, and the thought of becoming homeless again scared me. I'm older now, 65 years old, and I don't have the energy it takes to haul myself from one end of town to another, carrying all my belongings.

I have never forgotten what it was like. I remember meeting a young woman on the streets, all tattooed and rings n' things while I was working as the Editor for street paper Spare Change News. She was only 14 years old, and had been on the streets for about six months. To protect her identity, I'll call her Radio.

It was getting cold, and she and I were chatting in the Pit at Harvard Square, when she mentioned that she and her girlfriend needed a place to stay that night and they hoped it would be a safe place.

I figured I'd help out for a change and let them sleep in my room, and I'd sleep on the couch in the living room. They were thrilled.

Now let me say that I had known Radio for a few months and we had talked quite often. I knew that things had happened in her life that had totally traumatized her.

There's always what they call a "tell". Her tell was one of the tattoos she had. It was on the back of her neck: a tattoo of the words "Dead Girl" in all caps. When someone gets a tattoo like that, it definitely signifies something. I remember when I was in my early teens and suicide wasn't far from my mind

So they came to the apartment that I shared with the two other people. I showed them my bedroom and told them that they would share the bed and I would sleep on the couch in the living room right in the next room.

Women on the street pay that price all the time. Radio and her friend kept me company in the kitchen while I cooked us all supper and then we chatted for a while. Then I said that I was going to bed and they looked at each other.



"No, no, I meant what I said. You get the bedroom; I get the couch."

They couldn't believe it at first; thought I was putting them on. Then they realized I was straight up with them. They used the bathroom to clean up. A hot shower in a clean tub is a real luxury when you're living on the street. After they bathed, they went into my room and shut the door.

I lay down on the couch and had a great night's sleep.

You see, the part of the story you don't know is that I have a daughter and a son and I had no idea where they were. I looked at Radio and her friend the same way I would look at my own kids. If they were homeless, I would hope someone would take them in and not ask anything of them.

It was 1995 and I had no idea that in 2007 my daughter, Jasmine, was going to contact me by email and chat with me for a while to see if I was safe. Now I have my daughter, my grand daughter, and a son-in-law in my life and it is very precious. My son is not in my life yet but he knows I'm there and I hope one day he will come around. I always keep in mind that I did the damage by disappearing from their lives, first as a fugitive, and then by serving my sentence for drug crimes. I finally kicked and rebuilt my life.

But let's get back to Radio. Over the years she and I built a friendship that was very precious to me. It was all because I did the right thing way back in 1995 and treated the two girls like daughters instead of street trash.

Folks, there is no street trash. There are only people who treat street people like trash - and the people who mistreat homeless people are the trash. Am I being hard on them? Maybe they just don't know any better.

Over the years, Radio and I became very close. When I met a woman, Mary Esther, who was close to my age, we fell in love and got married. Radio used to come over the house on holidays and have dinner with us. My wife and I have a policy of having people we know over for holidays if they don't have family and just need a place to be safe for celebration.

God has been very good to me and I have much more in my life than I thought I deserved. My wife tells me I deserve it and I have to believe her.

But let's get back to Radio. I don't know what happened. Maybe the damage done was too great. I don't know what happened all those other nights she was on the street, and back then I wasn't in the position to take her in.

Radio was found dead one night in a small apartment she had rented after going through a program. It appeared to be suicide. I'll never forget her. She was a talented artist and had a beautiful website on the internet. I don't know what happened to her art. I tried to save it but the computer I was using crashed and I lost it all.

But I didn't lose as much as Radio, a woman who lived on the streets.

Marc D. Goldfinger is a formerly homeless vendor who is now housed. He can be reached at [email protected] Marc also has books on www.smashwords.net that can be downloaded for $2.99.



Old People's Primer for Starting Stored Motorcycle

1) turn key

2) grind starter to dust

3) kill battery

4) charge battery

5) CHOKE you moron

6) start

7) float stuck, fuel everywhere

8) shut off

9) panic, remove parts

10) think, kill fuel, start, run dry

11) float frees self,

12) replace parts needlessly removed

in step 9

13) start, again

14) back out shed door that shrank 2'

over winter

15) enjoy

~ Tim Hayes

Rapid Combustionby Chris Zagst

Free fell into oblivion! Ignored by inconsequential reason. Remembering two year foregone In a warm winter season. A burning super nova exploded; A short lived constellation Inhaled by a space between. Melon scented flirtation. Catalyst tossed upon a coal, Violently and rapidly combusted. Heart opened, sincere and eager, Never to fear or to be mistrusted. A lifetime of elation in memory Condensed and replayed endlessly. Involuntarily summoned thought Joy and pain coalesce cruelly.

The Highway Poets News is now accepting submissions for the Summer Edition! Share your

Poems, Stories, Photos, Gigs ya did or are gonna do as the Newsletter starts to grow again by sending E-submissions to: [email protected] or snail mail to: Highway Poets News 40 Chapman

Blvd. M12 Somers Point NJ 08244

hpmc spring 2011 newsletter

Documents

biker poets highway

highway poets motorcycle

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club matters

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local road

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miniature road apple