Whitman’s Manhatta…..gone….gone….gone…

Langston’s Harlem is now a playground….A renaissance? a rebirth?  of what? gone…gone….gone….

Patti Smith’s Manhatta….Jim Carroll’s Manhatta….Happenings….. St. Mark’s……gone….gone….gone…

The Beats….Ginsberg’s howling….Kerouac’s dreams of Buddha and Bennies in Washington Square while rattling off Haiku’s as girls stroll by……gone…gone….gone

Seventy-five dollar a week rooms with dead rat essence in Chelsea…..gone…gone…gone….

Porn in Times Square….Buddy booths…..hour hotels……dirt….grime….Here’s to crime……Manhatta is gone….gone….gone……

And……so am I.