Pluviophile

A new poem published in Thirteen Bridges today. Here is the poem:

Pluviophile

Walking the steamy streets
of Alphabet City
after two days of heavy rain

I hope will never end,
the sidewalks smell
of a city left behind.

Friends lived here once
up on Avenue C
in a roach-filled, sixth-floor

walk-up protected
by three massive locks.
Yes, it was deadly here,

and the walk I take this evening
would have labeled me insane
or desperate. Yet I miss

the days when I might
meet a friend on any corner—
catch up over beer

and peanuts in that bar
on Avenue A —the one that catered
to roughnecks, punks, and poets.