Tin Men on Broadway

am I the mirage or is he

him and his DTs he sees me

at crack of dawn down along

Broadway we tango and limbo into

out of arms the muster zone

men got a feel I did too

copped what matters to them

day labor waiting for the boss

to fish them out they wish

pass the magic

wand over MY head today

so I get a days pay

landscaping and urinating

some McMansions lake estate

expansion ass hole in the quarry

rocked wall twenty foot

tall Flintstones home yabba dabba do me

on his knees now how can it be

he’s not a chosen one he’s frozen praying

God! coming undone asking me miss

where’s the nearest bar

around here open

is he joking at this hour?

it’s a hike down Broadway

past the tattoo parlor and

Catholic Church the Chicken Holiday

and he’s saying all  hurt

shit I just walked twenty blocks

well I can’t help it look for the Nip & Tuck

by the firehouse okay good luck

look for blacked out windows

serving broad daylit shame the

ones they hide got no pride

what’s your name?

he’s asking me

come have a drink with him

nothing doing - I got to get to the Family Dollar

root through the squalor

under the old Woolworth’s

tin ceiling how I love the feeling

looking

up

at that metal pattern repeating

it’s why I shop there digging for

treasure I need a retractable six foot

tape measure so

he goes after he blows his nose on his sleeve

shiny-cuffed with the dried stuff

god knows where he’s been

I have to ask him why me?

I look like somebody

would go drinking at 9 a m

with some strange men?

like somebody I knew

you were going to say

you’d show me the way

cause you been there too

god damn Mister look

all I need’s a tape measure

it’s been a pleasure

meeting you had your

last dance

cause he conjured me

see I’m the mirage from

his DTs just starting in going down

on his luck

fucking himself

up Broadway to the Nip & Tuck