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 unstable card table
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 stations himself
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
Retirement time
Due to start at seven sharp
So while I can
gonna enjoy maybe
my last view
It is...
It was
like no other
you know
Picturing unusual points of view for first person story telling brings on some interesting challenges. Thought I'd experiment a bit. Hopefully, it works.