Live corpses wander littered sidewalks <br />Shoeless, legless, toothless and tired <br />The refuse of a city built on broken promises. <br />Pregnancy runs rampant - a self-perpetuating disease <br />Along with 9a.m. alcoholism <br />And prison tattoo battle scars. <br />Rap music blares from an old boombox, <br />An antiquated relic spouting unrealized dreams. <br />Homeless and jobless soldiers of misfortune <br />Congregate with social workers <br />As they wearily sigh in gospel harmony. <br />Hookers led by pimps work thankless jobs <br />Pumping the lifeblood of Manhattan <br />Even in broad daylight; <br />Vampires immune to a sun shrouded in smog. <br />The living dead search for ways <br />To blend into a society that glitters <br />In defiance of their pain <br />With fake nails, a cigarette, and McDonald's fries.<br /><br />Rachael Swiss<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/harlem-at-125th-street/
