poem of the day 01.28.13

this thing of beauty

there are frozen puddles

of dog piss

on the street

and frozen streaks of dog shit

with ice crystals

frozen men

on frozen street corners

dressed in NYDOT orange

smoking cigarettes

and arguing

while staring at a frozen mound of water

caked around a fire hydrant

and there are frozen boys and girls

smoking dope in cars

doing idiot sex dances

on the way to high schools

that have frozen out education

to become prisons

today

amongst it all

i feel like a frozen puddle of dog piss too

wiped and useless

devoid of language and strength

thinking that having a car hit me would be a mercy

but at the end of my ropes

i step over a heap of frozen vomit

outside another shitty local bar

advertising disco nights and karaoke

and look up into the ugly sky

to catch the sun

as it is being squashed by two gray clouds

that cast their shadow

over all of this bullshit

and misery

thinking this thing of beauty

this goddamned thing of beauty

that will get me going

to the next disaster

on the next block

is almost worth it.