This avenue ain’t for the downhearted,
the heavy steppin’
This is where people walk who got
five pounds of flour under the stairs
and enough sugar left over
to make a cake
This where folks walk who got a dollar in their pocket
without the corners torn off
already half spent on
nothin’.
This is the bench where people sit and talk
to no one
about they diamond lives and how they mad
cause they don’t want everyone else
to have it too.
This is where they stand up and stretch, put their noses up and look
sideways and down to make sure the nets
they keep around them
ain’t come down.
This avenue ain’t for the folks who walk
authentically, worn-down soles
and battered souls, this is where they walk
on shiny heels, in the light so bright you
can’t see
nothing else.