streets gave us

 
too hot to sleep
go downstairs
sit on cement steps
get high on thunderbird
goof on the ’56 chevies
cruisin for the buzz of a gundown
but not on our block
we ain’t worth killin – we live for dyin

girls hang on the corner
too cool, too hot for us
they pose for the Lincolns & Caddies
from uptown, on slut patrol
when they stop being girls they’ll be whores

we figure to make the bigtime one day
steal from the rich what they took from the poor

our kingdom of tenements
thieves & misfits & pariahs
our mountains made of glass & dirty-red brick
our sky made of coal smoke & acid sunsets

hustle for quarters
pitch pennies at cracks in the sidewalk
climb the fence at the recycle yard where we dig for gold
break our hearts if we ever leave. if we never leave

when the end of the world comes
it’ll start here
streets gave us


(Art: Francis Giacobetti)