poem “My Kind of Town (The Universe is in your Hands edit)”, a poem based on going to China and after telling an inquisitive Chinese man I was from Chicago, he mentioned “My kind of town”, and even Frank Sinatra singing that song, and that the world is a lot more tightly knit than we realize, By Chicago Poet Janet Kuypers

[the Writing of Kuypers] [JanetKuypers.com] [Bio] [Poems] [Prose]

Enjoy this YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her “The Universe is in Your Hands” poetry book Chicago-themed poems “Big Shoulders: This Was Her Home”, “Because of a Fire”, and “My Kind of Town (The Universe is in Your Hands edit)”, then her poem “Knew the Word” from the Scars Publi cations book “Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” (for the date Illinois became a state), + her poem “New to Chicago”, all read live as the finalé performer at Chicago’s Windy City Words open mic on 8/17/24 (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter/X, Link ed in, Pinterest, Instagram, & Tumblr).
Also enjoy this YouTube video that was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix FZ300 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter/X, Link ed in, Pinterest, Instagram, & Tumblr).
Also enjoy this YouTube video that was filmed from a Samsung S9 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter/X, Link ed in, Pinterest/X, Instagram, & Tumblr).
Also enjoy this Facebook live video stream when Facebook kept it online, that was filmed & streamed live from a Samsung S9 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Link ed in, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypers #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperstheuniverseisinyourhands

My Kind of Town
(The Universe is in your Hands edit)
Janet Kuypers
1/22/24
I stepped over many palace doorsills
in Beijing’s Forbidden City, negotiating
golden bars from 6 inches to a foot-tall —
they may have once kept rain and mice out,
but these bars were also symbolizing power:
the higher one’s status the higher the bar
people had to step over, not on, but over...
But then I left, entered the Summer Palace.
That’s where an older Chinese gentleman
walked up to me and asked,
in the best English he could muster,
where I was from.
I told him the United States,
and then I said Chicago.
That’s when this man’s eyes lit up,
and he said,
“My kind of town!”
And I laughed,
nodding my head in agreement
until he leaned in toward me and said,
“Frank Sinatra sang that.”
And I laughed again,
“Yes, he did,” I said,
because even though
this world is so vast,
we will always find ways
to connect with one another.

Copyright © Janet Kuypers.

my hand to an anim of jkchair