Downtown
Don Barnfather
[dbarn@netvigator.com]
trapped in a new york bar
drinking english beer
i never drank in england
pretending i'm a spy
choking on peanuts
and swilling again
the longships -- white and virgin
sleek as nails
dominate the hudson
through my sunny window
battery park in need of a kick-start
flat and wet is backdrop
spoiled by lunchtime joggers
jogging in their jogging suits
the hotdog man in greasy rebellion
short and fat
and unhealthy
has more class
hawking and spluttering with last night's nicotine
cemented to his lungs
one world financial center
winks at its own grandeur
disdaining to acknowledge its rival
chained in shadow
on the seamy side of the street
west street -- all dismal pedestrian bridges
searching for the new world
in old directions
and if you look
carefully
liberty's wave beckons
from across the river.
Poem © 2000 Donald Barnfather, all rights reserved
appears here by permission
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This poem was written after a visit to New York City.
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