Anyone who’s ever played a part

Alternatively, “the AstroTurf at the Big ‘O”

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

that grungy Panasonic stereo set
attached to a 3-legged equalizer circa 1983
dreams of suppressed harmony
straying off into the other

“Jack’s in his corset, Jane is in her vest
me, I’m in a rock and roll band”

Velvet Underground. “Sweet Jane.” Atlantic, 1970

read-throughs in both official languages
ricochet off the walls
inside that Mile End bachelor suite
designed for precise encounters
where counters engorge
lowest of the low
and foes engage
in scandalous acts of duplicity

it turns to dust
and settles on parquet flooring
installed way back when
the Hawk himself, Andre Dawson
charges in from centerfield
man, it was good work
for blue collars
and migrants
scratching around for change
they’d stack ’em up
in those days
ten — twelve stories high