never been below Fourteenth Street
heard you’re edgy
heard tales of young men with mustaches
and tight pants
heard you draw clouds that look like Toni Morrison,
scribble poems about Etta James,
harmonize love songs to
     your definition of Jesus,
that you dance like grasshoppers (or any
animal with rhythm)
heard art,
heard notes,
heard you think I’m jealous
heard you sunrise on a Bushwick flat
after 13 cups of whiskey
that you walk home the whole way,
fifty-seven blocks
while the rainwater saturates your thick blue jeans
just so you can tell the story tomorrow
heard you never trust a man in uniform,
or any suit that isn’t corduroy
heard they stared at your tattooed arms on the J train,
that you were happier than you let on
heard poem,
heard step,
heard two jobs
heard busboy,
paralegal,
vegan-bookstore-cashier
heard mom and dad stopped sending checks
heard you moved back to South Carolina
to Austin
back to Cincinnati
no,
heard you stayed put
carved Lower-East-Side into your upper thigh
shook yourself vulnerable
heard it was enough,
heard it wasn’t

heard you think I won’t find you there
heard you fight me to bloody knuckle
but I’ve never felt the sting

your shine never dimmed my bright lights,
but you wear me on your sneakers,
who do you think stitched the patch of your swoosh?
I am a whisper in the front pocket of
your faded jeans
heard pretentious-adorable-poet thinks you rule world,
heard you know I do

I dare you to follow through

have fun with your revolution,
let me know how it turns out
I will be arms outstretched at your finish line,
look around your continents
just see if you can stop me

---

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Keywords : Revolution, Lower East Side, Manhattan

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