MACEDONIA

McBurney "Y"
The elevator is down two days so everybody
Gets to know the man on the freight side.
A white guy waits too long and has a riff with him
When he takes care of a brother first.

The one with the cowboy coat gets a warm compliment.
Walking down eight flights of stairs twice a day
With the lady in the next room they talk about
Elevators and exercise but there's a wall between them.

Bhudda Restaurant
The big Yank sits down his feet not fitting under the table.
A little Chinese girl in tight pants gives him a smile.
Where your treasure is your heart is also.

Close to the border between a world of dreams
And the minor gratifications of this experience
He curls up in a cheap book while the food waits.
Pulled back into life he speaks from a slouch
Asking to have it wrapped for a future
Which he will realize with a distinct effort.
He thinks about landfills and spends a lot of time
In the men's room. Take advantage of your
Great imagination. It will serve you well.

A coarse guy with bare arms eats with both hands
And talks down to a blonde in her twenties.
He handles the conversation about his loves
And separations in a competent manner.
His stomach keeps him away fom the table.
Listening closely to him she folds one knee
Up under her body as she sits on the chair.
She wears a wedding band and says it's ok
For him to talk like this. They share the food.
A lifetime of happiness lies ahead of you.

Getting back late he rides the "F" train with Nick
The animal activist and a perrennial poet who can't spell.
Everything is closed except the takeout with night people
Crawling around under flourescent lights.
He buys food he can't eat and has wine with it
Back in his room. You will hear pleasant news.

Seventh Avenue
Black ladies have a style with long coats down to their heels
And braided hair that hangs over the collar in back.
You have to guess what's going on inside.
A fresh guy in a four-wheeler stops in traffic
And gestures at one of them honking his horn.

He stands in the doorway of the narrow storefront
Watching them pass by. His home is in Greece.
When the Germans come he leaves the mountains the pines
And the house he owns to his sister.
He joins the Greek Navy and patrols the Suez Canal.
He comes to America after the war bussing at the Stork Club
Until the Union breaks it in a strike that lasts for years.
He buys a barber shop from a homesick Italian
And gets chased from neighborhood to neighborhood
By new buildings with high rents. In a picture
He's a young guy in his shop on the West Side
With an old man who comes for a regular shave. He lives
In Ridgewood where it's quiet. The city is no place.

New York 11/94