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Listen to this poem from Live at the Cafe, now available in a 3 CD set that you can order at any time from iTunes.

See this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading 3 poems (“Love Affair With The Moon”, “The View of the Alley” and “fast food makes finger food”) 2/3/14 at Waiting 4 the Bus at Jak’s Tap in Chicago (this video was filmed from a Canon camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading the poem The View of the Alley 2/3/14 at Waiting 4 the Bus at Jak’s Tap, Chicago (Canon)

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading the poem The View of the Alley 2/3/14 at Waiting 4 the Bus at Jak’s Tap, Chicago (hue cycling)

the view of the alley there are times when I’d sit on my back porch, on the third floor of an apartment complex, and it was really just a balcony, but it was a place to hang outdoors. all you could really see was the apartment’s back entrance to the alley, and maybe the backs of neighbors’ homes. now, keep in mind that this is Chicago, and as a rule you don’t know your neighbors, and when you’re a city person, you’re used to checking over your shoulder, you’re used to being on your own, and you like having your five foot deep porch with a view of the alley. anyway, I’d sit on my back porch, with a glass of wine after work, and I’d watch the neighbor’s garage. you see, they had a separate garage from their house next door on the same alley now, I don’t think they kept cars in this garage, I mean, if they did, it was probably just to store the cars, because I think the garage was just for storage only and it must have been full of scrap pieces of wood or something, because I think it was a safe house for them because I think every time I sat our there on the porch there would be one or two foot ling rats, you know, the kind with an eight inch tail after their foot long body, there would be at least one or two of them moving around there and I know it sounds silly, but I never feared them coming up to my place, because I had an open-air balcony, and I had no food, I think the rats had it made in that garage. and i have to admit, it was always entertaining to just have some wine and watch the rats in the alley from my back porch. U.S. Government Copyright Chicago Poet Janet Kuypers All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without express permission.