NEW YORK CITY STREETS

NEW YORK CITY STREET PEOPLE

so, tell me - where did you find
cash to purchase a hummer?
Protecting Madonna, sitting on
The hood – and who are you
really, staring at -I see your back

Are they laughing at the bride
laying on the sidewalk, as a man
places a pillow behind her head...

Across the street two wrecking balls
one painted with American Flag –
three men - tired destroying what
What is left, in their life?

Look at people
lingering at Union Square...
Generations sit together
eat stale chips - smoke -
play chess.
A man in yellow watches
as a child bites their nails,
knowing how to win -
eyes of a child stare
at the older generation -
to study his face.

This is where I live
near that Pepsi sign
near the Empire State Building
near crowds of people on
Broadway, I am I, I am them -

Reading billboards, in a hurry.
Someone told me, "Once -
a cigarette burned - puffed
smoke above Broadway?"

The man to my right
he is talking to his wife -
some people listen, but
most do not give a damn.

The woman to my left
wearing a red coat - she's
in a hurry - going shopping
but split her stocking near
her black shoes, wearing
white lace, short sleeves
In addition, it is only twenty degrees,
perhaps she rides the
subway – day in and day out?

Now I am in the Upper East
Side of the City - where
he sleeps in light, near a
goddess - thinking.

A goddess of marble or
is she a man? A hand beneath
her chin, it’s a her, it has to
be.

A wind blows east, it is Harlem
Lanterns of red balls float
east - in unison – a wind moves
in different directions.
.
Tied to wrought iron rails
old dilapidated chairs,
a familiar host poses
while she waits for a party
to begin on Harlem Streets.


Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved@2010