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Times Square, Plus Some
by Ken HarnischSweet soul urbanity
Keeper of my lies
Nurturer of my dreams
Before you dashed hope
Quite unceremoniously
In the puddles and neon
Reflection that was
Broadway on a winter’s night
You led me down the
Path of righteousness
Where I became,
If not a man,
A reasonable facsimile
I was the one who stopped
And gaped at Jesus, or
His agent, holding up the
Book and spouting end-of
The world type things
That in retrospect
Led someone, somewhere,
To report to Jonestown
Seeking his salvation
In a vat of purple Kool-Aid
Stan and Warren eyeballed
The caged girls in the Metropole,
Oblivious to the wind, while I
Clutched my wallet and saw
Pickpockets in every passing
Pair of hands.
Like Jimmy Breslin, I sought
Damon Runyon in the eyes of Losers
While standing silent post
As New York City
Morphed into Despair
Disneyfied now, it is a lively
Artifice of light and sound
A safer, sanitized version of some
Long ago Gomorrah marked
For condemnation
Then thought the better of
For reasons I’ve yet to ascertain
I gape at the tourists these days,
Reminding myself even natives can
Be startled and amazed,
Knowing now for sure
The hoariest blasphemers can redeem
And re-invent themselves.
As for Jesus,
The last of his disciples
Play digitized pan flutes
On Seventh Avenue.
The doo-wop singers
Are a little silver around
The temples.
And I stare at
The people in the double-decker busses
And wonder how crazy you have to be
To sit outside in the cold, in December,
Listening to the folderol
From the tour guides,
Most born in places
Like Omaha, Ne.
03/12/2008 Posted on 03/12/2008
Copyright © 2025 Ken Harnisch
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Julie Adams on 03/13/08 at 03:42 PM Hey Ken, I really love this new piece or urban artistry, through and through...the imagery abounds, the era comparisons endear, and ultimately, the delicate selection of this collage of words makes this an instant favorite of mine...pieces i loved: "If not a man,/ A reasonable facsimile" and "A safer, sanitized version of some/ Long ago Gomorrah marked/ For condemnation" and "The doo-wop singers/ Are a little silver around/ The temples."...thanks for sharing this, peace from a fellow bk/nyc resident...peace, jewels |
| Posted by Amy Niggel on 03/13/08 at 04:46 PM Having been one of those tourists on the top of a double decker bus I had to laugh at the image. Very well written. Amazing imagery. |
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