50th St.

Text by Owen Lucas
24 September, 2009

50th St.

50th Street the stars are out.

At home, they hawk you drugs

over the tube, arthritis cures, prozac

and viagra, may cause miscarriage,

cancer, impotence, consult your

doctor. Between commercial breaks,

America may sing its song.

What did JFK say? America is a

chorus line? On Broadway, Liza

Minnelli heaves her chalky train

and stamps, whale-bark, croak,

paunch flung out to meet her

public, before the parade passes by.

On CNN, Tiananmen Square 20

years on, they blocked the news

cameras with undercover police

umbrellas, on CNBC expos?

of drug companies diluting chemo

doses, many murdered, the FBI

wept. The humanity. 50th Street

it's all song and dance, the glitz

of chemical death won't blunt

tits ties teeth tans tunes tap shoes.

The veterans of decades on the stage

tear up and talk of overwhelming

joy, just pray we're not in for

a revival. They cry and gnash

their teeth so you don't have to,

oh boy. All America is a spasm,

drug-addled divas, artistes that

suck their own penis envy, ain't

we pretty here in the big city?

A spasm centuries wide, paid

up with medication, insurance,

sponsorship, self-love, insanity.

I might laugh, cry, scream

bloody murder, please somebody,

quickly, pass me a mic,

or palm me a placebo.

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