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Photo by
Edward Habib McKuen. ©2006 by Stanyan Audio Video Archives
A Thought for Today
Friendship shouldn't come too easy - or if it does, go easy slower than the photograph coming from the negative.
FROM the¨BOOKS
THIRD AVENUE
At long last... the rain is over
and a little wind is blowing across Third Avenue
and whoever lives above me
has stopped pacing around.
I never knew much about Third Avenue before.
Only that there was once an overhead electric train
that gave an element of mystery
and too many taxis
and more young men procuring on the street
than women.
And on every block...at least one old lady or old man
leaning bored out of a third story window.
I never knew too much about Third
but now I live here...above a delicatessen
up the street from P.J. Clark's.
And every night about this time
New York is a summer festival
of drunks and cabbies and pretty girls and bums
and assorted night people.
A big giant meat rack
running through New York
like a great acne
running over a young boy's face.
Lots of little adventures going on.
Me?
Oh... I've had New York type adventures.
When I first came here
I thought it was groovy to ride subways...
only I never got anyplace.
One time I met a girl feeding birds in the park.
She was a real pretty girl.
Yeah...I'll bet you think my first purchase
when I came to town
was a copy of Qor a subway schedule
or the In and Out book.
Uh-uh... I bought a book of crossword puzzles
and a portable radio
and tried to get to the beach.
Only... it's sorta complicated.
One time I went to this bar in dungarees
and when I finished my first beer
the waiter put another one in front of me.
He kept buying and I kept on drinking
till he told if I left...so would a lot of his customers
who'd been eyeing me.
I took a look at some of the customers
and got the hell out of there.
Boy... sometimes it really gets hot in New York.
You gotta sleep without sheets
and drink lots of water
and keep you mind off the girls in the doorways.
Tomorrow I'm going to join a gym
and start taking guitar lessons
and try to find somebody.
I wonder what's going on back home?
Sometimes I miss California.
Only... there's always something happening on Third Avenue.
I live here now... this is home.
- from the album "The Yellow Unicorn," 1959. First Publication in Print
10/15/99
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