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video See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her July poem “Urine and Fireworks” (written 7/3, on the historical date of the annual 4th of the July Chicago Fireworks Shows), read from the Janet Kuypers poetry book Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” on 7/3/20 (on this event date) as a prequel teaser to the “Poetic License open mic 7/5/20 home edition” (Samsung S9 camera). #janetkuyperspoeticlicense
video See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Urine and Fireworks”, “Object to Slavery while Protecting Slave Labor”, and “Everyone Will React” from the cc&d July 2020 book “So Much Moon” during the “Poetic License open mic 7/5/20 home edition” she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr). #janetkuyperspoeticlicense
video See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Urine and Fireworks”, “Object to Slavery while Protecting Slave Labor”, and “Everyone Will React” from the cc&d July 2020 book “So Much Moon” during the “Poetic License open mic 7/5/20 home edition” she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 & Sepia; on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr). #janetkuyperspoeticlicense
video See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Urine and Fireworks”, “Object to Slavery while Protecting Slave Labor”, and “Everyone Will React” from the cc&d July 2020 book “So Much Moon” during the “Poetic License open mic 7/5/20 home edition” she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 & Threshold; on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr). #janetkuyperspoeticlicense
video See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Urine and Fireworks”, “Object to Slavery while Protecting Slave Labor”, and “Everyone Will React” from the cc&d July 2020 book “So Much Moon” during the “Poetic License open mic 7/5/20 home edition” she hosted through a Zoom meeting and a Facebook event page (this video was filmed from a Samsung S9 camera). #janetkuyperspoeticlicense
video See a YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Magnificent Desolation” “Kill Us for Our Beliefs”, “Zoos, Big Brains and Opposable Thumbs”, “Vaguely Crafted Verses”, “Urine and Fireworks” “Object to Slavery while Protecting Slave Labor” and “Everyone Will React” from the v299So Much Moon” section of the cc&d 5-8 2020 collection book “One with the Mountain” live 8/5/20 (from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr).
video See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Magnificent Desolation” “Kill Us for Our Beliefs” “Zoos, Big Brains and Opposable Thumbs”, “Vaguely Crafted Verses”, “Urine and Fireworks” “Object to Slavery while Protecting Slave Labor” and “Everyone Will React” from the v299So Much Moon” section of the cc&d 5-8 2020 collection book “One with the Mountain” live 8/5/20 (this video was filmed from a Samsung S9 camera).

Urine and Fireworks

Janet Kuypers
7/3/19

Everyone usually talks about taking
the fourth of July off, and watching
fireworks, but the cool thing about

Chicago was that they did their huge
fireworks show the day before, on
July 3rd every summer. Then the Chicago

Symphony orchestra would play
a symphony in the band shell live
to accommodate the fireworks show,

and it was amazing to use this chance
to cram all races and ages of Chicagoans
together on the grass by Lake Michigan,

right at the end of the Taste of Chicago,
right at the time when everyone
wanted to get together and celebrate.

This was the time everyone and their
brother took the L train, because there
was no way you’d find parking this night.

And I can’t tell you how many years
I did this, but then I heard Chicago was
going to change future fireworks dates

for the 4th of July from the 3 rd back to the 4 th.
The worst part was that they’d do smaller
fireworks shows too, so the gallantry

of this celebration would be altogether lost.
This made me sad, so we made a point
to go one more time to this city-wide

celebration for this holiday that will now
never be the same. We took the train,
we found a spot in the grass with

everyone from single people to families,
as I said, all ages, all rages got together.
And this one last time, as we camped

in our little spot on the grass, we heard
one woman complain she had to go real bad,
and apparently, she couldn’t leave her spot,

so she decided to slide her underwear
off enough to go right there in the grass.
That’s the Chicago way, I wondered,

until I heard a woman closer to the lake
(and apparently downhill from the
pissing woman) start screaming

that urine was running in the grass
all over her and her seat - ‘who did this?’
she was exclaiming, and I thought,

only on the 4th, I mean, 3 rd, of July,
and only in Chicago. Well, maybe not
only in Chicago, but as an observer

it’s a funny way to say sayonara
to a tradition that was just perfect,
that now became a little ludicrous too.


Copyright © Janet Kuypers.

All rights reserved. No material
may be reprinted without express permission.



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