On the Street

As long as I keep talking
it's like a ribbon, an exhalation
said incantation, pronounced incantation
woven of threadbare words
at the butt end of a rough patch
just a rough patch


rumination on rejected snatch of 
not-so-bright ideas put me here
my bulb still burnt and public housing
nowhere on this block, in this town


As long as I keep talking I
have a chance of not sleeping
not getting robbed, not getting taken,
or shaken down, to the ground


wake up laying on, in
the sidewalk, the gutter
pockets turned out
Goodwill khakis no good 
for job interviews now


some nights are alright
keep rolling rolling
moving from one friendly 
block to another
come back for my stuff later


leave the carts, make a trade 
momentary coverage
patches of leverage
pronounced incantation, incarnation