who is Stranger

lower Canal St

it's mainly about a token mainline,

Soho Manhattan

where Newfoundland fish peddlers

lineup, the city's last hope

we heard a man cry out,

high-heeled hipsters watching

stud cowboy riverfront sightseers pointing,

laughing, then retreating

as if from a pestilential creature,

the grieving man rocking

dripping from scarred arms

his poisoned lungs choking, 

and we called the cops

some consider themselves

concrete jungle survivors,

yet we stumble on

giving no shit 

which gutter will summon

our decayed bodies,

ironically not very distant from garish midtown 

Radio City Guggenheim retrospectives

9/20/73