Like No Other

Hanging chained sign

am I

Established 1933

“Bakery” my name

Swinging through time my game

just lettin’ concrete canyon winds

wind their way around and through

glass and steel hives of commerce

uptown

downtown

all around

Like a trapeze artist

in perpetual motion

I see

I hear

swirls of

people

animals

things

all day

every day

right here

corner 10th and 46th

Above me used to house hooker delights

Below me once flowed oohs and ahs

Some from the bakery goods

fresh from the oven

others from tourists

mesmerized with this month’s

shell game antics

                  atop card table unstable

To my left

Bus stop misery

Express and local depression alike

Bench for daytime waiting

Slab for nighttime sleeping

To my right

Pimps on alert

Hookers on the beat

Down the block

Johns pulled to the curb

Quite a location actually

One way or another

my corner will always traffic realities

Foreign to most

understood by few

Got a mongrel dog as company

Beasty always stat

Trash can low to his left / me high to his right

Doesn’t bark

Never whines

Just howls his harmony

Hound-dog-rap

my pimp friend called it

Every once in a while

the preacher came by

placed his box on the corner

climbed aboard

raised his Bible

and ranted

Hooker delights stopped

Oohs and ahs ceased

Beasty took some nap time

While pimps

hookers

even “I love NY” tourists

would scurry to the cross walks

Anywhere

but here

their eye rolls proclaimed

Oh man…

here comes sunrise

Special

I mean

Special Special

Winds

nowhere

People

nowhere

Hooker delights

somewhere

Bakery scents…

It all used to be everywhere

Beasty was always at the ready

Got his bagel every morning

A smear of chopped liver on top

He was good for the day

But

Today is the day

Waitin’ for the wrecking ball

Due to start at seven sharp

So while I can

gonna enjoy maybe

my last view

It’s

Like no other

you know