broke but the bills paid

you edit and re edit and read it and
walk shuffling in clusters down meltslick snow covered
curbs next to the chattering masses who

holding ipods like candles in the darkness hum
and meander to top 20s in their top 20s at the peak

of their age daydream of their homepage

.

and sometimes there is genuine joy
and on occasion i can't bury the odd love i have for the new york anonymity
it throbs when we bump at the stairwell and trade awkward gestures or
speak solidarity in secret glances around the loud
couple on the D train

.

and the pawnshawps close with the lilylivered hustling from
fordham road seated next to me
midget buildings huddle in the twilight and i
try to articulate the hierarchy of cellphone buskers crackling static at
single
-moms
in
the
street