January 24
I was about to be mugged by a man
With a chain so angry he growled
At the Lincoln Center subway station
When out of nowhere appeared a tall
Chubby-faced Hasidic Jew with peyot
And a black hat a black coat white shirt
With prayer-shawl fringes showing
We walked together out of the station
And when we got outside and shook hands
I noticed he was blind. Goodbye,
I said, as giddy as a man waking
From an anesthetic in the recovery room,
Happy, with a hard-on. The cabs were
On strike on Broadway so beautiful
A necklace of yellow beads
I breathed in the fumes impossibly happy





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