Live corpses wander littered sidewalks
Shoeless, legless, toothless and tired
The refuse of a city built on broken promises.
Pregnancy runs rampant - a self-perpetuating disease
Along with 9a.m. alcoholism
And prison tattoo battle scars.
Rap music blares from an old boombox,
An antiquated relic spouting unrealized dreams.
Homeless and jobless soldiers of misfortune
Congregate with social workers
As they wearily sigh in gospel harmony.
Hookers led by pimps work thankless jobs
Pumping the lifeblood of Manhattan
Even in broad daylight;
Vampires immune to a sun shrouded in smog.
The living dead search for ways
To blend into a society that glitters
In defiance of their pain
With fake nails, a cigarette, and McDonald's fries.
Rachael Swiss
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/harlem-at-125th-street/
