TENEMENT MAN
decay drips from the walls of the tenements where i live
apartments stacked so tightly that the smell of sweaty bodies
pervades even the windowed rooms
these windowed rooms overlook the alley
and the laundry stretched out on rope between buildings
they also face the evening breeze
for these people lie and cheat and probably would kill
they are the best of the tenements where i live
here doors are seldom shut
the heat of more concern than privacy
on any night one can watch a neighbor's wife
toweling her naked body before the only fan her husband can afford
and there is no desire but for the fan you do not have
above and below the banging of voices
so constant the words mesh in a collage of misery
out front men sprawl on weathered steps in early afternoon
young men in brilliant colors
a carnival effect
they mock the ruins they can't avoid
buying cars they can't afford
exchanging murky dreams in staccato dialogue
these dreams are always old

perhaps here all things lose meaning
love respect dignity
perhaps reality itself within these walls
here one feels the specter of defeat
the stench of hopeless tomorrows
and yesterdays piled in a comer with worn-out magazines for there is no robin hood
no jesus and no santa claus
in the tenements where i live