acoustic guitars
blues or flutes
music of the street
kings, watching girls go by
boys sit high on the wall
laughing, to girls
below speaking up
in some open aired
mating ritual
as life moves on

to the Au Bon Pain
where the chess king
sits outside
charges three dollars,
take your money
in three minutes

then The Hong Kong
where slurping designer
alcoholics suck
scorpion bowls
with just a straw
like magic
watching the night disappear
in vomit on Mass Ave.

where today I pass
gray men asking for
money, each step
they age harder and faster

but when
I was still sixteen
the used clothing store
existed right there
and a beaded dress
made you more
beautiful than
a haunted gypsy,
made me kiss you
when you exited
the changing room
deciding whether
I should either
live or die forever

GO HOME