October 6, 2022 - Daniel Damiano’s “Brooklyn Street, Sunset Park, Early September”

Sidewalks

catch tears

raining

from emoting air conditioners,

boxes of unclaimed novels

with Gratis scrawled,

every handsome façade

and tended rose bush

and well-swept entryway

contrasts

neighboring houses

seemingly left for dead,

with eroding steps

bookended by rusted railings,

an over-painted doorbell frozen in time,

an intercom with exposed copper entrails,

yet someone lives here still,

and, from time to time,

puts out a used pair of brown loafers;

free for anyone who happens to be a 12 wide.