Best Bowery Poems

1
Though still within our infancy, 
we strive to thrive, but woefully 
we flash and flaunt our 'primacy',
display our trophies pridefully.
 
Our terra firma ecstasy
destroys survival's harmony,
lays waste to life on land and sea.
Mankind, thy name is vanity!

By doubting Nature's regnancy,
defying laws with levity,
we strain our...

Continue reading...

A beggar clump adorns a dump, his pencil box in hand -
With sightless eyes upon the skies he’s lying there unmanned.

He’s fallen down in Shantytown, his knees too weak to stand,
With no relief and bitter grief too dark to understand.

The Bowery blight is hid from...

Continue reading...

‘ Legendary …’  ( Part  4 (of) 4 ) 



Now, that the Maiden was Unaided, Quickly, ‘He’ Located, Her Craftily
Beth, was in A Flurry, Too Much in a Hurry to Hear Turning of A Key 
Alas’ … The Happenstance of Harm, at the...

Continue reading...

Ink Stains
                                           ...

Continue reading...

at the mission in the Bowery
when the addict comes in at night
they are ushered through electronic doors that
slam shut like a prison 
echoing down the hall &
with few people on staff
they make their rounds in the greater part of the shelter
with walkie-talkies hooked to them
but...

Continue reading...

No more water hosing or truncheons beaten on bare feet,
no nightsticks cracking skulls on Bowery streets.

No cold water straitjackets or rubber padded rooms,
no laudanum doses sweeping minds like a broom.

Now its pretentious centers deluxe
brazenly charging big bucks

for twenty-eight days of schmoozing
to turn off the boozing,

and...

Continue reading...

If our springs are uncertain we enjoy fine sunny days
A feeling for spring, even when bad, is always good
Such is the opening of April, not winter nor summer
It is spring fickle and chilly a spring of dear England

In spite of the cold, green steals along...

Continue reading...

I see by the news that they may level a bit of Americana.
Alas, 'tis that old icon, the railroad depot in Richmond, Indiana.
I have many fond and not so fond memories of that old place.
Unless some good soul rescues it, 'twill disappear without a trace!

It...

Continue reading...

Sing Kumbaya around the fire; don’t look around
As beneath the baptismal waters the black sheep drown
Cold currents under the surface pull their breath down
Lullabies of praise snuff their cries as flickering flames of lives
Drown in the wax spilled from the wicks of the sacred candles...

Continue reading...

315  Bowery
Cavern dark
Steep stairways
Rebel yell
Graffiti walls,
Landmark underground
Outcast mall.
Cradle of Punk
Sweet rock n roll
Loud lullabies,
Awakening calls.
Talking Heads
Blondie
The Ramones beat,
Historic toilet rooms
Flush no more.
An era gone
Silent sleep
My CBGB days
Hilly Kristal,
You may keep....

Continue reading...

Joe Schmidt grew up the Eastern Bowery
His upbringing was less than flowery
He robbed a few banks
And a few more pranks
After which his whole life turned out sourly....

Continue reading...

You don’t wanna meet Joey Fatone 
He’s a Jersey Devil
with a Tasmanian attitude

Street whispers say, 
“Baby” is a notch below
asylum certifiable

A wise guy, gator gait    bad to the bone
Known to go postal   ...   jungle level
Joey loves giving dirt...

Continue reading...

Ever since I was a youngster, I loved my comedy shows 
So, I've wrote about some comedy that most everybody knows 
Remember watching "The Honeymooners" late at night tucked in your bed 
Remember watching "The Flintstones" with Barney, Dino and Fred 
Remember Soupy Sales, Red...

Continue reading...

With nostalgia Mom looks back to the year
A little girl walking to Riverside Park, without fear
Except for the bowery, no homeless on the street
Kids played outside, lots of friends to meet.

A chocolate bar was 5 cents, a penny was copper through
You could buy a gun...

Continue reading...

stones
by michael r. burch


i.
far below me lies a village
with its houses hewn from stone
and though Everyman who lives there
bravely claims he’s not alone,
i can tell him, yes u are!
for u cannot touch the stars
no matter how u try;
nor can u tame the mountain,
nor appease the...

Continue reading...