The Intersection at 23rd and 4th

To 23rd & 4th

Hello and goodbye

A fleeting passing

A brief sigh


Birds all aligned

They sit in their rows

Chittering and chattering

they look down below


Wires hang like ink

Traipsed across the sky

No seeming destination

They seem to imply


The spectators watch

the play unfold

The drama of everyday

Never getting old


One day with luck

Judy did see,

“A scrap of Subway

dropped just for me!”


Cautious and coy

She had to be

To beat her friends and foes

to that piece of meat


She wiggles her way

Spreading her wings

And swoops in a hurry

Ignoring the ring


Her fellow comrades’ cries

sound strangely alarming

But after all

Losing can feel harming


Snap! Thud!

A bright red flash

Screech of the tires

A man with no cash


Cigarette in mouth

Brown scraps of mildew

“Damn burd,” he grumbles

got guts on my view”


With a wipe of a sleeve

And a slam of the door

Driver moves on

Thinks of it no more


Life rolls on

at 23rd and 4th

Birds still in rows

The day on its course


The scent of

Hunon Wok Buffet

Wafting above

To the pigeon array


The Gas station pumping ‘n

Chugging away

2 for 1 chicken

Ending today


Squawking and gawking

The pigeons resume

Ongoing rabble

Black lines are the tomb


They’ll be there tomorrow

... and the next and the next

Like the ultimate “ok”

A meaningless text


Feathers adorning

Black thread across the sky

To 23rd & 4th

Hello and goodbye