downtown

visit to new york

trapped in a new york bar
drinking english beer
i never drank in england

pretending i'm a spy
choking on brazil nuts
and swilling again

the longships white and virgin

sleek as nails

dominate the hudson

through my sunny window

battery park in need of a kick-start
flat and wet is backdrop
spoiled by lunchtime athletes
jogging in their jogging suits

the hotdog man in greasy rebellion

short and fat
and unhealthy- has more class

hawking and spluttering with last night's nicotine

cemented to his lungs

one gold-glass goliath
winks at its own grandeur
disdaining to acknowledge its rival
chained in shadow
on the seamy side of the street

west street- all dismal pedestrian bridges

searching for the new world
in old directions

and if you look
carefully

liberty's wave beckons
from across the river.