| ZYGOTE IN MY COFFEE.COM |
| ***BIO*** Iris Berry has been called a lot of things but one of the best is “A punk rock James Elroy in fishnets.”
One of the true and original progenitors of the L.A. punk scene. Her lifetime spent in the City of Angels has resulted in over two decades worth of astonishing prose, poetry and music. Berry's writing has been widely anthologized in a number of literary journals and collections. In The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry she appears along side the likes of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs. Two Blocks East of Vine, her book of short stories and prose was published on Incommunicado Press in 1994. The books’ companions, the spoken word CD’s "Life on the Edge in Stilettos" and “Collect Calls” were critically acclaimed and allowed her fans to hear her writing in the way it was meant to be heard. Berry was recently given a certificate of merit and achievement from the City of Los Angeles, for her contribution as a Los Angeles writer and for the charity work she has done, producing large scale fundraising events to benefit organizations such as The American Red Cross, Habitat For Humanity, Hollygrove Orphanage, Aids Project Los Angeles, Amnesty International and Rock the Vote, as well as many women’s shelters and organizations devoted to homeless youth and runaways. |
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| © 2008 zygoteinmycoffee Ink. |
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| RALPH'S MARKET AT MIDNIGHT IN VAN NUYS |
| by Iris Berry |
| The lights are cruel
at the Ralph's Market In Van Nuys on Burbank and Van Nuys Boulevard at midnight on the 1st of December. It's the last month of the year and apparently it's Christmas according to the aisles at Ralph's market. But if I had to guess by the customers I'd say it was Halloween. It's desperate here at Ralph's In Van Nuys at midnight and the lights don't help any. Florescent lights are never good for the complexion. There's a young homeless couple walking the aisles, buying food and looking happy at least they're in a relationship is what I say. Freshly home from a trip to "The Big Apple," I went with my boyfriend and came home single. We had to go 3,000 miles to do that? It happened in bed in the dark in a dingy Times Square hotel room or at least that's what they called it I've stayed in crack motels that smelled better... It was epic and when that plane landed on California soul I clicked my heels together and quietly chanted there's no place like home and now here I am at home in my neighborhood Ralph's market feeling like an alien. The thing about sunny California is the only way to tell the seasons is by what's selling on the shelves at the market. I have a thing for the market somehow it's a form of meditation for me nothing in there reminds me of my life. I can do this. I'm a spiritual giant In the frozen food section I'm Gandhi In the greeting card section and I'm Mother Teresa in the checkout line forgiving all the tabloid sinners and connecting with something greater than all of this. Credit or debit? Paper or plastic? Peace... please? I'd like to give it a chance after all it is the Holidays. |
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| Feb. 2008 |
| 102 |