PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

New York City

can be such a cool town

It can be a trip

even when

you’re only passing thru

One time

I took Jersey Transit

to Penn Station

then had to walk

to Grand Central

to catch another train

to see a show in Port Chester

It turned out to be

easier said than done

I start walking

and come upon a problem

This was around the time

Salmon Rushdie had written

The Satanic Verses

I get to 6^th Avenue

and there’s a sea

of angry Muslims marching

down the street

spewing angry words in the air

I had to get across the stret

but there were thousands of them

on both sides of me

I hesitated

and then took the plunge

I started making thru

the crowd and almost

uttered a “shalom”

but caught myself

This was not a good time

to work on my Hebrew

So I made like a politician

as I wormed my way thru

the angry protesters

“Praise to Allah.”

“Death to Rushdie”

I shook hands as I crossed

the street

It was tad scary

I don’t know if I can

condone death sentences

on writers who write boring books

That is something that

could come back to haunt me

but you know what I think

would have been really cool

is if a camera crew was there

to film my plight.

It would have made

a great segment

on those old commercials

“It’s never just another day

in New York City. “

7-21-95