1.
The Lower East Side is grand
There was a guy on a bench
With his arse and balls hanging out
It was an anatomical cacophony
I have to step over rivulets
Of piss and puke
But not every morning
It's just like home
You would love it
2.
We walk here
Under the shadow of a rose
Blue skies and no clouds
On Bowery
We look up unlike the locals
Who only wonder why
We hinder their progress
By keeping left
3.
Near the north end of Lafayette
Just up by Lt. Petrosino Square
Stands a raggedy man most days
Unless it rains
With a golf club in his hand
He lines up mini milk cartons
And attempts to chip them
From full on fifty feet
Into litter bins
Some locals sit on benches
Ignoring the innocent projectiles
as they pop.
4.
The bar on Avenue B looked suitably dirty
It was dark and the windows gave no hint
As to what went on inside
I needed someplace quiet
To finish the thoughts I had been carrying
There should have been sawdust on the floor
Like the Yates's of years ago
A few bearded men sat at the bar
Nibbling on their nuts
It was a trick they'd learnt early
I ordered a stout and watched the menu
And looked at the t.v. screen
Two ultimate fighters got bloody on the canvas
It was obscene
The pizzas were dairy free
And the gravy was vegan
They have landed
A few punches
A righteous hook
Here and there
The cheezeless amongst us
Anthony Murphy was a founder member of the live spoken word/music event "Everybody's Got To Be Somewhere" in Brighton, UK, where he fronted sound art installation Quint. He performs poetry as Johnny Cashback in New York where he now lives and works as a freelance writer. He has a new poetry collection Postcards from New Yorkshire out soon and a blog at JohnnyCashbackATM.blogspot.com.
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