DRAGGING MY HEM THROUGH THE MUD

Lachrymose, I cross Seventh Avenue

On my way west to the heart

Of the Garment District, 

Where once I thrilled to hear

That daughter of the Rosenthal family

Crow how she hated 

That I am an Harlemann. Then,

I was proud of my ancestry. 

Now, my very body is leaden.

The weight was noticeable to some

Bald white man near my age;

He caught me and said, "All right, now..."

[NOTE: I improvised thus just now while at acupuncture drop in with Housing Works here on 37th Street, a wonderful clinic founded by ACT UP-NY member Virginia Shubert.]