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West
Chelsea Meat
Packing
A game of
tag -
cracked concrete slabs
stained slaughterhouse aprons
shiny white boutiques
black letters on windows
no caps
designer names escaping
from wide avenues
small kitchen sculptures
cut from trendy magazines
"functional aesthetics" for lofts
accents for rough steel
anti-gravity plastic bubbles
redefining the chair
defying the past
like paint over
ages of bloody overalls
tight jeans now
seeking croissants
and other delicacies
in abandoned factories
while apartment dogs
on leashes
avoid men
with sides of butchered beef
and cigarettes dangling
avoid murky puddles
with diesel rainbows
avoid derelict walls
with post-impressionist patinas
of peeling paint
pushing decay and death
farther, farther
into the Hudson river
to glorify new art
gutting buildings
reclaimed from industry
instead of cattle and sheep
naked pipes, ducts and beams
flaunt their anatomy
stripped to show their fitness
jogging along the piers
past stately facades
to make a statement
amongst planters of tropical foliage
and black marble tiles
sweeping drifting trash
from rusting buildings
energy drinks and cappuccino
can't be drunk
from brown bags in doorways
round abuelas on stoops
still rock the buggies
still gossip and click
while children
not yet discouraged
teeter and totter
in minimalist playgrounds
big boys and girls
play multicultural hoops
in courtship rites
with their big baggy pants
and dribbling dance
refugees from high SOHO rent
join the village scene
play their games
in cavernous space
galleries pushing boundaries
of artistic tastes
inviting zen teahouses
and doggy spas
welcome the industry
of imagination.
©
2004 Richard Sidy
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