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Oh, but the places that I was,
and no one saw, or cared
‘cause who was I, and stared
at the long black coat
in which I hid my whiskey.
An’ they was always mean with me.
If I’d ask ‘em fer a dime
why they’d stare like time
was theirs and I had no right
to be there anyways
smelling like I did ‘cause
I couldn’t wash fer a long time.
I ask you, is that a way to treat
a fella? I knew the streets
and where to go when it was cold enough
to keep ya warm. That much
and more I knew of such
things that will keep a man alive
when his luck is down.
Hell, I’m only 35, but I’ve seen
things, and let me tell you,
done things I would not do
to talk of. Why at sixteen I’d spent
my first winter on the streets and went
to jail for Christmas so’s I
could have turkey dinner;
and at Easter I’d go down
to the Sally-Ann and listen
to the Cap’n preach about salvation
while I ate my sandwich and got
new clothes.
Sure, I’d felt God then,
and at other times.
When my stomach was empty
and cryin’ fer a drink,
I would talk to Him and thank Him
when He would find a dollar for me.
That is where I found God,
and why I would leave it
for nothin’.

Vern
1982

Vern,

My father used to speak of a New York that had the Bowery... it's still there as a street, but it's no longer what it once was... it was the Bowery, home of the drunken Bowery bum... all homeless men, down on their luck... and I remember my father telling me that some of the best people were these so called "bums"... I never forgot his saying that... and your poem seems a case in point, I think...

Thanks for sharing it with us,

v i o l e t

My dear Violet, what ever do you mean the Bowery is no longer what it once was? Care to meet me at Crash Mansion and discuss this further?

I really enjoyed this, Vern. Especially the "Sally-Ann" line. It reminded me of some people I've run into during my own rambling. Thank you.

-ph

... I'm afraid this is the first I've heard of Crash Mansion... I don't get out enough methinks... tell me when you'll be there, and I'l spy on you first... [smiley, if I used them]...

v i o l e t (behind her
violet tinted
glasses)

.

Thank you Vern