Flip It

book cover with red ink splashes

I wrote the poem Flip It in 1998 when I worked at a homeless shelter.  One day a homeless lady at the shelter was having a bad day and she threw a cell phone at me.  She was always so calm and nice, and I did not anticipate her actions.  She unexpectedly "flipped out."  

I had always been interested in the brain and mental illness.  I wanted to know what brought people to the shelters.  How did they handle life?  What made people "flip"?

I revised the poem in 2005 when I knew I wanted to make an artist's book.  It was completed in 2007 and a New York City psychiatrist saw it at one of my art shows on the Lower East Side.  He left the show with the book in his hands.

Looking back, I am pleased to have found truth.  A truth about humanity which moved a professional so much he wanted to own my work.

Sir, thank you for sending me these photographs of the book.  s.