little brown lady with brown eyes
deep brown eyes and twelve hands
carrying her groceries/children/dreams
baggage/heart/memories/bullet wounds
stress/old teeth/future/pocketbook &temper
up the
stinkystairsofthesubwaystation

twin boys
mexican/latino/indian/african
any child in america
wearing yankees jackets
playing tag
double murder
child stealers
watch them running without worry
laughing with the sunset
how can they be so happy in this ghetto?
running past the preppy drug dealers
shifting their smooth feet to avoid the green glass
four legs find the door to an open apartment
this time they made it
unaware of how dangerous their footsteps
seem so close to home

fat girl
fat girl in a white v-neck t-shirt
bra too small
stuffed inside tight jeans
ponytail slicked back
40-year old lipstick and dream catcher eyes
they follow her the oldmen &the teenagers
they whistle and yell
they follow her
but she is lost on her own block

she wants to believe she is more beautiful
then her block
when she grows up she wants to be big
big as a house
with brick windows and paper doors
she wants to draw the door knob orange
and let anyone in
let anyone in
who’ll give her
a little
she wants to be big
let anyone in
who’ll give her a little
man said he was gonna make her big
man said he was gonna make her big
she wants to be big
big as house
she’ll let anyone in
yes, anyone in
who’ll give her a little

attention

white blond lady on heroin
is somebodys momma
giving black folks the
„what you doing uptown stare down“

white blond lady on heroin
broke her arm on new years eve
partying with her friends
prostituting on the local playground

her bones are sleeping inside the elevator
she has a key, but doesn’t live in my building
i sometimes live in my building
and i can never find my key

she smiles at my family
when she can find her teeth
she wants to get high
but keeps falling down
she wants to get high but keeps falling down
this is a game she plays with herself
every night

white blond lady on heroin
is somebodys momma

little brown lady with brown eyes
gave birth to twins
one is a little fat girl
who doesn’t know she’s already beautiful
so she dyes her hair blond
snorts,shoots and smokes herself skinny
she – any child in america
with twelve hands
praying for a bigger house
any house any body but her own body
is somebodys baby
carrying bags of groceries
waiting for someone to notice them

walking up 158th street