Benches
By Michael Domino
By Michael Domino
Sidewalks like railroad tracks.
Keep moving or get the fuck off.
I’ve got a cane or a walker so why
don’t you go fuck yourself, asshole?
So I move from makeshift resting place to
resting place, but what I’d like to see is
a regular, plain, old-fashioned wooden bench.
You know, public property and painted with
thirty-seven coats of green enamel. I’m the fucking slow
moving public and I paid my dues and I want my
goddamned bench, the kind with the nice curved wood
back
that takes the stress of my aching back and stiff legs.
Don’t make me sit on some concrete wall or a marble planter
that dogs piss all over. Give me a real bench and don’t stick
it
out of the way, off the sidewalk and next to some jungle
gym or in “the shade”. I had my kids and grandkids and I
watched them play for two thousand hours. Just give me
my fucking bench right here on the side walk where
everyone else is walking by, just like me. I’m just like you.
This is my city. I helped raise it up from diapers and this is
where I intend to stay. I don’t give a shit how many canes I
have or pills I take. I ain’t going out to East Cup-Cake or to
Upstate Bum-fucked-Egypt or to this assisted living or
some Happy Meadows bullshit club. I belong in this city so
just put back the fucking benches, on the street, and let me
keep living.
Keep moving or get the fuck off.
I’ve got a cane or a walker so why
don’t you go fuck yourself, asshole?
So I move from makeshift resting place to
resting place, but what I’d like to see is
a regular, plain, old-fashioned wooden bench.
You know, public property and painted with
thirty-seven coats of green enamel. I’m the fucking slow
moving public and I paid my dues and I want my
goddamned bench, the kind with the nice curved wood
back
that takes the stress of my aching back and stiff legs.
Don’t make me sit on some concrete wall or a marble planter
that dogs piss all over. Give me a real bench and don’t stick
it
out of the way, off the sidewalk and next to some jungle
gym or in “the shade”. I had my kids and grandkids and I
watched them play for two thousand hours. Just give me
my fucking bench right here on the side walk where
everyone else is walking by, just like me. I’m just like you.
This is my city. I helped raise it up from diapers and this is
where I intend to stay. I don’t give a shit how many canes I
have or pills I take. I ain’t going out to East Cup-Cake or to
Upstate Bum-fucked-Egypt or to this assisted living or
some Happy Meadows bullshit club. I belong in this city so
just put back the fucking benches, on the street, and let me
keep living.
© 2007 by Michael Domino
