squealing brakes
red light stop
exhaust fumes
heat rising from the blacktop
a horn tapping
notes spilling from someone’s car window
green light go
cars blazing through the intersection
hurried
signals flashing
a gaggle of men on the sidewalk below
in ceremonial orange robes
noble
passing out flyers
​
1800’s brownstone
3 story flats
stairs rush up to the 3rd floor
fire escape fragile
​
windows bared and caged
a kitchen door opens onto
tarred linoleum
a saloon door swings outward from
another era
a butler's pantry
into 3 grand rooms
their narthex
a piece de resistance
a sunroom of windows
checkered floor
offset black and white
14-foot ceilings
motes idling in the sun
​
layer upon layer of latex and lead paint
against wainscoted walls
and wooden floors
back to the kitchen
a sink rises from
tarred linoleum
the adjacent door and window
caged
​
Outside
Outside
​
a metal walkway
30 feet of 3rd floor tragedy
past more of the same
caged windows
​
To: Apt 3West
a curtain flutters there
past a bright plastic lawn chair
​
3West
tap tap tap
a short pause
a curtain sways
a black woman in a maid’s uniform
welcomes us
motioning us to follow....
OPULENCE
the kitchen awash in mahogany,
granite.
and stainless steel
in the next room
hand painted
silk wallpaper
the carpet
velvet green
​
there's a bird in a cage
Exotic
like the far East
​
welcome
welcome...
​
the street
beckons
​
Outside...
Outside
​
​
fire escape fragile
our footsteps rhythmed
in saltshaker rust
the iron stairs
a poor man's steel drum
​
our rich friend smiles,,
into the night we go
​
Outside...
Outside
​
German ingenuity
custom-grade paint
V-8 engine
Opulent ride
​
we glance at our back door
barred and caged
hidden
a slice of moonlight falls across the tarred linoleum it awaits us
