chi-town

this is a congrlomeration of several different poems i wrote while living in chicago and struggling to make ends meet.

stepping streetside

cuz that's the safest side

strolling humble shoulders held high

fightin' the fear inside

in some slanted city

where i'm strugglin

'

to let the joy

in. thank a god

i was taught to disbelieve

damn, tommy come lately

with a blunt and a grin

raised by a basement fulla

blue pitbulls.

 

i shot vodka with your mama

at the jewel on the corner

than lost my wallet and my senses

to the streets

of chi-ca-go-land.

 

phone trees and smooth jazz

butter knifing myself

outta the bathroom

drivin' up a wall

hackin' up a lung

i thought my day

had come

.

and gone....

that's the luck o' the irish for ya;

people starved on their own soil's

starchy harvest.

 

buena suerte got me this far

far, far away from home.

now home is humboldt park

complete with millipedes,

sinking floors of a shoebox

bedroom, angry sun

shinin' thru the holes in my door,

 

fried street meat...

streets meet beneath my window

sweaty hands swap signs

and fucked up minds

clock nines.

 

watch your step, baby girl,

your soles may be your thickest skin

but that just ain't thick enough

in chi town,

city wind and sin.