125th street, yes

125th street, yes
an almost unknown sex
wait for a local train
drink up station chill
water stains lace wall tiles
green wool pants wrap my calves quietly

coughing passengers fumble leather jackets
headgear shaves itself
evry cart has a plastic bag
evry home has a refrigerator
evry knife has a scheme
evry forecastle has hair

vikings sharpen their horns
play taught skin drums and chant Reykjavik to the rhythm of a waltz
Vikings sharpen their horns to slay whales and dragons
forget Arabs and penguins
drink mead
slaver over pewter sporks and wooden swords
stand somewhere this side of fashion
throw roosevelt dimes and knickerbocker stamps from the banks
that cormorants scoop up
with women's panties that smell like dry piss
void of other cordials

the living room's free anyway
dry docked sofas and rotting alabaster buttresses
sound klaxons at 2:46 sharp
for the afternoon waking snow

celibate capsules deign grey goatees tropical
in lieu of perversity
lights in steamer trunks grow crystal
deviled egg dishes wrapped in a 1952
Philadelphia newspaper business section




.