Howard Firkin
Around the neon-lit advertisements
the fattest spiders spin their careless webs

         Beside the ticket punch a couple
         and soft and spreading clouds of Turkish…

The river rises through the metal grille
a quiet static unheard in the city

         A derro touched me by die Brünnen
         for five Marks worth of there but for the…

Eine, die Hörzu zu Hause hat is peeling
away and waving well rehearsed farewells

         A gnädige Frau sits pucker faced
         and everyone’s forgotten The Party…

The platform shivers—one way or another
the Schwebebahn is coming—someone’s coughing