sia´s nighty

(ONE YEAR LATER)
read at the bowery poetry club, sept 11, 2002

i walked thru western brooklyn today
to check how my city is doing
borough park, sunset park, gowanus and red hook

slimy gummy gowanus canal
always a kaleidoscope of pollution
still one man is fishing
the eternal tableau

stole a glimpse of the downtown skyline
at the g train platform at smith & 9th
and remembered how when i was a kid
i watched the buildings being built for years
from the back seat of the plymouth fury
whenever we drove on the verrezano

later when i was working at jp morgan
i'd sit under the towers and eat spare ribs or sushi
i'd stand right next to the corner and look straight up
at the incredible white straight line

one day chubby checker was there singing at lunchtime
or they'd bus in some high school band to do a concert

windows on the world
where many years ago meg and i celebrated our marriage-to-be
i think i had beef tournedos
and meg had some vegan spinach thing
the marriage didn't last either

the city seems to be okay today

and what did i do this year?
a year spent hating the world
what answers did i come up with? zero

the dust that we breathed that day

the questions my kids finally asked

the deli that stayed open on pearl street
the tiger's milk bar i bought while the dust swirled outside

wandering battery park city in the dust

what answers did i come up with?
zero.

Levi Asher
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