FEEL LIKE A NUMBER

Random moment #1 from my time away from home...

I saw a tunnel clearance sign on the parkway on my way out of NYC that read 10’01”.

Which reminded me of a poem I wrote a while back:


THERE ARE NO FREE BEARS IN NYC

Gentle Ben
Took the 10:01
Out of Kennedy.

He was tired of scratching his ass
On a lamppost caked with poster paste
And handbills.


I had put this together about ten years ago for a friend who was working on a zine named Doggone It, which was aimed primarily at Japanese ex-pats living in NYC.

The person running the zine was in the states illegally, and she was deported after running off a few issues, so this poem never saw the light of day.

So, light of day, meet slight, whimsical, and slightly poignant poem for Japanese ex-pats living in NYC…