Michael Magee, 'Morning Constitutional'

In the Kensington section of Philadelphia, 2004.

Michael Magee's book Morning Constitutional was published in 2001. Publisher's Weekly observed: “A breadcrumb trail of juiced urban monologues, phrasal runs somewhere between Dolphy and Sun Ra, rope-a-dope reports from a guarded ordering bordering on an underdog corner restoration and definitional clarity (a slush fund is dirty money) mark these ante-meridian outings, exercising our rights and outlining the space between our laws.” Magee walked Philadelphia in the mornings and these poems densely record his observations, debris-like. The book is still available for purchase. Philip Metres wrote about it for Jacket in May 2003.

Now, thanks to PennSound staffer Hannah Judd, a November 2001 reading Magee gave at the Kelly Writers House — with Louis Cabri — has been segmented.

  1. Morning Constitutional (complete) (16:36): MP3
  2. Introduction to the project (3:41): MP3
  3. Section 4: Washington Square Park (2:19): MP3
  4. Section 5: 435 Chestnut Street: Benny's Place (1:24): MP3
  5. Section 6: Independence Hall (2:16): MP3
  6. Section 8: 847 North 3rd Street: Ortlieb's (1:51): MP3
  7. Section 9: 2nd and Market Streets, The Blue Line, The AM (2:02): MP3
  8. Section 10: Kensington and Huntingdon Streets, The North Philadelphia Needle Exchange (3:01): MP3