Firehouse Sessions – Bad Apples

IMAGINE HER A MOM                 no female skateboarder in the exhibition?   Imagine her, 13 years old, wowing the skate park with her kickflip crooked grinds, her lip slides –   imagine her, 10 years in the future, showing her daughter the moves – how not to break…

BORDER BREAK   Blazing sunset as vision of a known world’s final act – one backlit skateboard hovers midair. Sinjin Savage, Joe’s Skate Park, 2015

MYSTERY SKATEBOARD P.V.   The secrecy of it – the mystery – draws me. Clandestine adventure of just getting there, arriving blindfolded at unofficial skateboard park. The risk-taking, the adrenalin, good for body and soul. But do I dare?   I have no skateboard, never considered flying – break my skull dreaming. Mountain Democrat article…

SKATEBOARDING UNION VALLEY   Look at him riding his skateboard down the railing of a flight of steps. Calculated free-fly remaking the world as we know it.   Instant recall: my dog paw-by-paw walking slick metal railing, perfect balance in motion – impromptu agility course, training   for earth slipping in waves of aftershock, city…

NAVIGATING THE CITY   Look at this town with no parking, cars multiplying faster than space on our limited Earth. SUVs & heavy duty pickups parked metal-to-metal, drivers shimmy out the windows. Structure/stricture of our concrete world.   Imagine a gallery full of maybes, what-ifs, free space, and the possibilities of grace. An open door;…

Justin Boyd, Tahoe from Above #1 The Last Ride   I took my old board out for one last ride on the west slope fair grounds   the wheels were rickety and the wood was chipped, when I rode it real fast the axles made a terrible sound   I felt a pop on my…

The Gift   Death touches life Life tears apart endings Rotten fruit Let it fall Reach out Hold out your hand Black and white or green and gold A half pipe of choices Flowers touch bones Bones to the living I ollie into my own soul Awakens the loins Quiets the mind From the grave…

Electric Touch   My face is blue with sadness My body hot and red in anger But my mind keeps exploding with numb yellow thoughts I cant keep them in I cant let them all out Reaching for a mental connection Yearning for an electric touch As I put pen or brush to page Hoping…

Zombie   Look through me Work those swirling whirling eyes Spiraling out from a drawn and gaunt face Skin dripping off in layers Your O’Neil shirt tattered and ragged Your baggy jeans just a thought below the knees Bloody toes peek just through the worn and forlorn Van’s Arms limp as you walk One swaying…

Nate Reifke, Boot, Pen and ink on paper, 2018   Broken   Snapped Fracture Conjecture A memory now spoiled Now thier is fear I give this piece of mine forth now it’s a sultry ritual I place it upon wheels And I roll it in front of the procession On its way to be interred Down…