PAYS TO BE AROUND...

Where's Daniel?
by "OBSIDIAN!!!" c.2008

where's Daniel at?
in alleyways
and sleezy barbacks
on cheapened souplines
with hands in pocket
against the wind

where's Daniel at?
in porno-shops
brothels and
opium dens
sleeping in libraries
and bookstores until 10

in central park after
dark with a bottle of
coors scribbling poems
with discarded pens
looking for a pair of
shoes with vagabond
blues on street corners
way after the sun's gone
down

where's Daniel at?
in front of churches
and synagogues that
pass their time giving
away swag in paper bags brown

in smoke-filled bars
playing movie star
in poetry joints
at liquor stores
in front of cigarette machines
and waiverly's public assistance
haunts

on concrete floors
bodega stores
wooden park benches
piss corner stenches
stairways
and alleyways leading to
county jail stretches

i'll tell you where
Daniel wasn't at!
at a funeral parlor
as the chorus rose louder
roses adorning
your body lifeless and grey
where friends and family met
with handkerchiefs wet
as the pallbearers carried
your body away