Street Music
STREET MUSIC
Manhattan, in nineteen thirty six
And a growing Italian population
Poor immigrants, no job no food
And so impossible not to intrude
Yet there was strong motivation
Out on the street, turning tricks
A barrel organ, four dollars rent
One could include a monkey too
Or even buy them, a block away
Earn a few cents profit every day
Maybe a wife improved the view
To make a buck was the intent
Street life could have been kinder
And intervention was never tardier
Yet a Mayoral ban, it would seem
Begging, not the American dream
So it was outlawed, by La Guardia
And New York’s last organ grinder
Copyright © Howard Osborne | Year Posted 2023
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