up against the wall brothers and sisters

I have seen my winter coat at long last

saved for much colder days

when these nights finally prove

they deserve this darkness

smashing all the street lights

on palace corners

piano keyboards sweating

pounding syncopation

displaying dog eating junkies

dying inside,

the strength of our audience

wailing

below

the bars

covering city streets…

strike down!

break the rock piles

jagged

across frosted marshy windows

until the silly fools

relinquish

their murder of the world!

for if this prison yard were as dark as we wanted it to be,

none could ever hope to escape without

half a mind left,

and even if it was a half hour ago,

the convicts won’t be able to find

the way back out again

1/22/81

Hunter College

NYC