we built this city
--for nathan kukulski
there is an unmistakable
stench of rot in the air
on this train it smells of garlic
i’m trying to kill the final days of the year
reading baldinger’s poems
but the guy two seats up from me
has his little magic machine playing 1980s music
we built this city on
rock and roll
jesus christ, i think, is he serious?
i’ve got thirty years of animosity towards this song
long rides with my parents
while they fought about money and rent
overtop that sort of happy tripe
skating parties with perky-breasted girls
from wealthy, catholic families
who wouldn’t touch my fat and sweating hands
if it meant their life
i’ve got animosity bubbling anew
and i’ve read the same line at least four times now
because we built this city
we built this city….so that assholes like this guy
will always have their way
no matter how low down on the food chain we are
the working class will eat the working class first
i put the baldinger down for a moment
grab my own little magic machine
i put on erik satie but it doesn’t matter
satie isn’t enough to kill what grace slick
worked so hard to destroy on her own
so this is how another year winds down?
bad pop music, garlic and another crowded train
most likely it began like this too
i just sit there with the book of baldinger’s poems open
the satie flaccid and not of the moment
accidentally make eye contact with the guy sitting next to
me
until he looks down and grabs his phone
calls one of his friends while tapping his feet to the music
his face only coming alive
when someone shows up to save him
on the other end
while i think there’s not even enough vodka at home
to shake them all off tonight
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