poetry critical : poem

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before i ever wrote shitty poems.

fdostoev

i was	1
a young bank examiner	2
drunk beyond repair	3
in downtown chicago.	4

i'm going to the ghetto,	5
i said	6
in a cavalier tone	7
to the other	8
drunk examiners	9
at the rush street bar.	10

i stumbled north	11
where the broken pavement	12
reeked	13
of open sewers and	14
the homeless	15
were putting down for the night	16
in bus stops and	17
alleys.	18

the street vendor	19
sold me a fifth	20
of whiskey and	21
let me piss	22
behind his car,	23

don't get lost	24
around here,	25
he called after me.	26

a shattered	27
black woman	28
sat on the steps	29
of a rotting	30
apartment	31
building,	32

she	33
nodded,	34

i	35
nodded	36
back.	37

sexes?	38
she whispered	39
and patted the space	40
beside her.	41

i	42
sat.	43

she	44
put her arm	45
over	46
my shoulders.	47

for twenty dollars	48
we could go	49
upstairs	50
and i could do	51
whatever.	52

all i wanted	53
was to talk	54
for a bit	55
and	56
get to know	57
her view	58
of the world.	59

she looked at me	60
like i'd just	61
shit in her lap	62
and said	63
if we wasn't gonna fuck	64
get the hell on cause	65
she had mouths	66
to feed.	67

12/03/06

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poetry critical