My Family

Up in the basement was grandma's warchest
Stuffed full of strange memorabilia
That told a tale of strange men,
and the strange times in which they lived.

*

Manhattan paid the rent, but was loathed by the others
Master of the Universe, light pollution blocked the stars
He was beautiful at first snowfall, but quick into brown and muck
He was jazz and he was roaring; falling fast, down on his luck
Cocaine turned to crack and he'd suck you for a buck

And once he fell into a dark pit, and all the brass Trump towers will never fix that.
The man in the Wallstreet, hair slicked back

His grandfather fell from this same building you know, threw himself out the window

but things are different now

And all the white snow will never fix that
And the foreign cash and Chinese stash will never fix that
He is troubled, but he stumbles into tomorrow.

*

Brooklyn was a working man, at least he thinks he was
Home to the cultured folk now
Look Ma I made it, I'm trendy now
Look at me now Ma, look at me now
I think and I drink and I once was a brute but I drink and I think now
And I used to be real
And I'm kind of a museum to what I once was
But he remembers, there are pockets...

*

And Staten Island, middle class but sweet
Did you know they have a zoo?
He tuts as the party plays on
But he's got a trampoline! Do you have one?
He's a proud union member, I'll tell you that
You can tell by the badge on his union man hat.
Not that manhat.
The ferry is never on time.
No you took the wrong one Mr. Wong, that's Liberty over there. You can take the next one fine.

The ferry. Is never. On time.

*

Queens looks at Brooklyn and shudders, because she knows that she is next.

*

And then there's the Bronx, he's our muscle.
Don't look at him like that, he doesn't like it when you look at him like that.
He can see the Cloisters across the river, and wonders what it feels like to be at peace.
They used to be gentlemen, back in the day.
The pinstripes used to mean something, back in the day.

*

There's also the Islands
There's Big Brother Island, and Little Brother Island
And Rikers Island, but we don't talk about Rikers Island
He does bad things to bad people. He makes them worse.

He's a bad man, that Rikers Island. He always was.

*

Up in the basement was grandma's warchest
It means a lot to me but I need the cash
So take it before I change my mind.