Bowery Afternoon

Drab discoloration
Of faces, façades, pawn-shops,
Second-hand clothing,
Smoky and fly-blown glass of lunch-rooms,
Odors of rancid life. . .

Deadly uniformity
Of eyes and windows
Alike devoid of light. . .
Holes wherein life scratches—
Mangy life
Nosing to the gutter’s end. . .

Show-rooms and mimic pillars
Flaunting out of their gaudy vestibules
Bosoms and posturing thighs. . .

Over all the Elevated
Droning like a bloated fly.

 

This poem is in the public domain.