STOOP STORIES

( Narrator comes out in semi darkness onto set that looks like Stoop. The narrator will
play the voices of the characters within the opening monologue as well as playing other
characters within the opening monologue. If a ‘ character’ appears in the opening
monologue / the character should be embodied. Opening music can be Junior walker’s
‘ Walk in the night ‘ )

( Note ; In general the STOOP should be used as much as possible/ there are of course
will be times when the Narrator will move away from the STOOP but inevitably the
Narrator and the story ( stories ) must be brought back to it)

Narrator;
The stoop

back here

This in/out place

This place of teen dream/nightmares

This out/ in place

The Hard/ stained stairs/ that lead to

The worn tenement

Where
You dodge a rat / the size of a cat

Where you kill roaches / that walk in lines

Like well ordered militia

And
That thud in the wall/ is it a creaking pipe?
Or
Racing mice

Or

Did Mr So and so pass out next to his daily wine bottles

Or
did Mr such and such hit his wife again

And

It’s summer –again

And

It’s too hot in the house- again

And
the people who live in that tenement
Sit on it – the stoop
And
nurse hidden beers in paper bags

And
spike their soda

And
they never go anywhere

Have never been anywhere / they sit there/ on that stoop drinking deeply

And
talk

And
as
they talk and drink
They travel

And
you can see the places
You swear as they talk/ you can actually SEE the places

Smell the places

they continue to drink even more deeply

And

You think maybe you didn’t hear them right

That
maybe they DID go THERE
And

Maybe you ARE THERE with them

And the colors come

Drink a little deeper

A little Longer
language slows/ then heightens

And
the Stoop- is no longer a Stoop

it’s NO longer a stoop in

the South Bronx

Harlem

Or
Little Italy

And
if you drink a little deeper

The stoop is a Riviera

And we’re all basking in somebody’s sun

And somebody on the stoop drank and remembered

( junior walker fades and a loop of Solomon Burke’s ‘ Everybody needs somebody to
love play through out woman and man’s monologue )
( Narrator becomes an older Black woman roughly sixty five years old/southern/
specifically needs an Alabama accent )

woman;
‘I would wear this necklace and float down da street
Float and mens would wanna talk to me.
It seems any time I wore it, I would jus. I glow. Didn’t
matter what kinda dress I had on, honey, it could be the
ugliest dress in the world—this necklace made me look
like new money. Made me feel like—new money.’
Narrator; And somebody else on the stoop drank and remembered

( Narrator becomes sixty five /seventy year old Black man/ New York- specifically
Harlem/ A former Street man/ there is a slickness to him and his way of speaking)

Streetman;
‘yeah I’d watch her, man. watch her walk
wearing that tight skirt, high heels and red lipstick
wanting her man and
Somebody had a record player in their windowsill blasting
Solomon Burke’s ‘Everybody needs somebody to love’,man.
And in her walk,man/ she seemed to make promises
that only she knew she would or wouldn’t keep’.

Narrator:
And

the beer and the spiked soda is really a fine wine

And there are no over spilled garbage cans

Or
Smells coming from them

And
your son or daughter is not nodding from dope/only a few feet away

And

if your drink a little more

You can remember your first kiss

And the ‘ YOU AND ME /FOREVER AND EVER / promise that was made

BUT

THEN
You drink more deeply

And

it HITS
 Somebody’s wife just threw lye in her husband’s mistress’ face

a rat ran between your feet

the stench of the garbage has risen high

Your daughter/ son IS really nodding from dope/ and soon they’ll need another fix

On it - the stoop
Nodding

Nodding

Land of a thousand nods

( lights change/ Narrator turns into Herman)

Herman and Billie

( Narrator moves stage left / there is table chair and a glass/ narrator becomes
Herman 81 year old Polish Jew who is also a Holocaust survivor. He is having a
drink in his local bar in Brooklyn recalling Harlem days)

I first came to America from Varsaw in 1947 / I came to Harlem to voik/ I was voiking
at a news paper stand for a vile/ den started voiking in a butcher shop vit a friend of mine
on 124 street and park avenue/ People ver very nice – da Spanish/ Blacks- colored back
den- Blacks ver colored ver very nice to me/ I was livingk in a small room on 127 street
between Madison and fifth avenue/ I lived next door to Langston Hughes/- very nice man
and he vould tip his hat and say’ Good moining Herman’ /and I would say’ Hello Mr
Hughes’.. he vas nice/

After voik I would go to Connie’s Paradise bar to hear Jazz/ Oh I loved it / De people dat
vould come by just to jam/ Dizzy Gillespie vould come/ once Coco Schumann came/ he
vas from Germany / A Jew and survived the camps because he could play jazz trumpet-
he quite good/ and who else? / Oh Roy Eldridge I saw- he vas great- My God- everybody
vent dere.

I knew him a little bit- Connie/ his family vas from eastern Europe/ He introduced me to
Ella Fitzgerald- Boy dat vas great!/ I still have her autograph/ I met also Ben Webster- vat
a nice man

By the fifties Harlem vas getting rough/ drugs had come in pretty hard

I began seeingk this goil/ her name was Goldie/ ‘a nice colored goil vit a Jewish name’ I
used to tell her/ she lived in the same buildingk/ I vould take her vit me to da clubs and
everybody knew me and ve vould dance / I vas a good dancer/ dey said- the people in
Connie’s said dat I vas a Jewish boy vit a Black beat’- ..

I loved Goldy/ but her family did not vant her to be vit a white man/ it vas hard for me to
live in da same buildingk which is mainly why I moved away

One day/ I vas at the butcher shop and somebody came in and told me dat she married
dis guy and I vas devastated / dat night I vent into Connie’s/ it vas by den 1959..

I go in and nobody is really dere / a few regulars and I order a scotch and Some
musicians are on the stage and I ‘m kind a lost in my scotch/ den I look up cause I hear
this voice and I just watch

I can’t quite believe vat I’m hearing /vat I’m seeing and very few people in da bar are
listening and I told some of them to shut up and one guy said ( does a voice) ‘ Aq man,
ain’t nuttin going on/ why lissen’

But dere vas something going on up dere/ as ugly as it vas/ it vas beautiful/ the voice/ the
sight of her//garish beautiful at the same time/ and she asks the bartender for a drink
( does her)’ Hey Baby. Gimme a gin and seven up’ and the bartender gives it to her but
he doesn’t vant to/ Connie comes over and tells him’ Don’t give her anymore’

She take a drink of from da glass’ and sings/ rasps( does her singing ‘God Bless the
child)/ ‘Dem dat’s got shall get/ dem dat’s not/ shall lose./ Momma may hafe/ papa may
hafe / but God bless the child that’ got his own/ Dat’s got his own’..

Lady Day.. I couldn’t believe it/ I had seen her many times/ down on 52- Swing Street ‘/
they called it back den and I vas so taken vit how beautiful she vas/ how da voice vas so
great/ clear/ how da last time I saw her vich vas maybe seven years before dat you could
tell tings vere hard but she still looked pretty good

But looking up at her now/ her arms bare/ scarred from da needle marks/ da voice rapsy/
her hanging on da microphone for dear life..

She finishes da set and gets off the stage and come over to dat bar ( does her) ‘ hey
man / lemme get another drink’ and the bartender says’ No Lady/ sorry I got to cut you
off’/ Connie says so’/ she says den’ Mother fucker where ‘s Connie/ you tell Connie he
can kiss my ass’/ den I say’ I’ll buy her a drink’ and she looks at me and says’ thank baby’
and den she sits down..

Some other musicians are playingk in between da sets/ da few people who were dere
from da first set ver gone and now dere ver maybe twenty/ thoity in da whole place now..

I sit dere and she look over at her and she say’ you look so lonesome’ / I say’ Vell I lost a
my goil and I’m kind a feelingk bad/ she says’ Love, huh? Oh yeah Love’s a bitch’/ I say’
Yeah it is/ ‘ Where you from?’ she ask/ ‘Poland I say/ she says ‘ You were in da var/ I say’
No not really/ I vas apart of it but not a soldier’/ and she looks at me and says’ You vas in
dem camps’/ I said’ yeah’/ She sat up/ suddenly sober/ brighteyed/’ Oh Baby / I’m so
sorry/ I say ‘tank you’/ She said’ things people do to each otha/ I know ‘ bout it/ I mean
YOU CAN SEE I know/ I say’ Yeah I can see/ I know/she said’ ‘Yeah the world is a
bitch/ a real bitch’ /

We both are quiet

You know sitting up close/ looking at her / Isee da scars on her face and/ she is so
skinny / da lipstick is uneven but/ even vit all dis there is a beauty/ She says’ Did you
come to see me fall on my can/ to see how fucked up I am?’/ I say’ No Lady / No dat ‘s
not vhy/ I come in a lot and like I told you/ I was feelingk sad/ She looks at me’Okay/ I
don’t mean to hurt you/ but people can be mean/ they ‘re people who just wanna see how
bad I look/ see how bad I’m doin/ I say’ I’m not one of them’

We go quiet again/ I see her drink is low/ I buy her another one/ she smile’ ‘Tanks baby/
what’s your name’/ ‘Herman’ I say’/ ‘Well Herman I see you feelin bad/ don’t never let
the bastards see you cry/ NEVER/ You’ll get another girl/ don’t you worry’ /

She’s now looking beautiful/ I order another scotch for myself and look down and from
the corner of my eye I see she’s now staring at me/’How old are you Herman?’/’Thirty
one’ I say’/ ‘ Oh you a baby”/ I get nervous and look away and she laughs’ You’re
blushingk Herman’
And we bot laugh..
Connie comes over and says’ Lady it’s time for da next set’ and she says’ Okay Baby’
and den says to me’ Herman I’m gonna do dis set just for you/ can you stay/ maybe have
a drink after?/ And I say’ Sure” and she disappears backstage and a few minutes later
comes out/ wearing a pretty red dress and her hair was combed/ and she had on long
black gloves/ she fixed her makeup/ gorgeous/she looked gorgeous
It vas like she vas a different person and she opened the set’ it Them there Eyes’/ looking
at me smiling / snapping her fingers and winking at me and den the audience begins
looking at ther and everybody now is clapping their hands and yelling out to her’ Sing it
Lady Day / Sing it’ . And she’s having a good time/ We - ALL us are havingk a great
time..

She den says ‘ Here a song for my friend Herman/ we both know vat dis means’ ( he
recites)’ Southern trees bear a strange fruit/ blood on the leaves/ and blood at the root/
black bodies swingin in the southern breeze/ strange fruit hangin from the Poplar tree’..

She finishes da song/ No one moves. no one and den da lights din on stage
Den suddenly da lights come back up/ we clap like mad and she’s standing dere smiling/
laughing almost/ and she mouths something but I can’t make out what she says

Den I walk toward da back of the da stage to look for her and I see her / se’s vit a rough
looking man/ and she and dis man are about to go in her dressing room/ as she’s walking
towards da dressing room she’s pulling one glove off quickly and says to him’ Come on/
Hurry up/ hurry’ and den she sees me and stops for a second/ she just looks at me and
then they go into the room and close the door/ I stood there for a minute/ then I went
home..

July 18, 1959 I’m now living upstairs in my sister’s Hettie’s house and she’s cooking
dinner/ some people are coming over and she keeps hinting about some goil she vants me
to meet/ I tell’ Hettie leave me alone’ and den she says’ Maybe you vant another scwartze
and I tell her’ SHUTUP! And den she say’ maybe you vant another junkie schwartze- dat
stupid music/ vell one of dose black jazz people died yesterday/ da ones you like so
much/ died from dope’ and I say
Vat are you talking about?

And she tosses the newspaper at me’ here’ and I read ( as if reading) Billie holiday/ jazz
singer dies at 44 July 17, 1959;’…

I just sat dere/ sat dere for hours/ da people came and had dinner/ da goil da Hettie
vanted for me to meet vas dere/ I saw her/ didn’t see her

For days I vas like this/ I’d go into Connie’s knowing dat I vould see her again/ Da
bartender vould just look at me/ give me my scotch/ pat me on da back/ I’d just sit dere
and look at da stage/

Sitting in Connie’s a week after she died I stare at da stage/ suddenly I understood what
she said after she finished the last set/ as she was laughingk and smilingk/ she said above
the noise’ Folks I can’t think of nothing else to sing’ and somebody in the crowd said ‘
Dat’s all right Lady/ stand dere/ all you gotta do is just stand dere’

( lights change / Narrator becomes self and moves center stage and recites the
Poem’Jazz)

A woman is Jazz,
a tight, taut woman in a red dress,
Or
a sleek catlike woman
standing long and cool throwing
glances
And
She can stick you hard and long,
Or
short and sweet- jazz
And
you are dying

dying
 to hold her tight
And
play her
play her all night long,
fingers goin’ down her back and up her sides
and down again, jazz.
the foxiest, sexiest fuck you will ever come across,
the kind of woman that will break your heart,
jazz pure fuckin’ jazz is,
a woman,
A lady,
A bitch,
jazz.

(lights change / Narrator moves to towards the Stoop)

Harlem/ Yesterday/ Years

are getting closer now
Another line in my face
Especially around the eyes
I hear the same rhythms
But
Different voices
People are still sitting on it- The Stoop

I come back
just for a moment
cause I’m GONE
I’ve been long GONE
cause
when I was young
I was looking for varied beats
and
the different people moving
to varied beats.
And
I always wanted to go/ NEEDED to go/
NEEDED to walk
And
Be
GONE

I walk/ an old/ new/ familiar walk

I walk past Harlem Streets/I walk past/in/ through Marcus Garvey Park/ back then Mt.
Morris Park
but right here and now as I walk /I remember Mt. Morris Park walking with Hector/ 16
and slick.

( Narrator becomes Hector/ aged 16 .Puerto Rican/ he’s tough but vulnerable. Music that
plays as a loop is ‘ Slow Drain ‘ by Mink de ville )

It’s about maintaining your cool/ it really is

I mean you take IT/ take IT all in/ I mean I do that / I really do but can’t let it EAT at
you/ see THAT’S the thing / I mean it may burn YOU- like when I see Peachy nodding /
or when my Pops is spouting his 40 proof wisdom Y the black eye My Moms keeps Y
the way she promises to never let Pops comeback

Yeah I take it in
I let it rise
Then
Let it go
Maintaining my cool

I think of ALL this music I Hear /Like

Salsa/ soul
Allan Vega

And
Led Zeppelin

Y
I pick up the broom when I’m sweeping the house and play air guitar Y I start dancing
you know Y I close my eyes and I’m anywhere I wanna be . later I hit the street see fine
girls wearing cool breeze dresses fine girls wearing Rose water perfume Y I smile my
smile – that’s a thing me and Peachy got , man.

We got this smile y eyes you know?.. it’s a subtle / suave smile / let that female know
you like her / pero / as much as you may like her – Don’t let her think you gonna sweat
her. Y she can see you’re a player but she’s gonna let you know she’s aint one to be
played.

Man I smile my smile Y I lay down the foundation Y the female come to me

Maintaining my cool

I walk blocks / all kinds of blocks

move to the music of each block

I LET MYSELF GET LOST

I aint’ afraid because I’ll always find my way and I’ve let myself go to places I’ve never
been and never knew about. Cause I wanna Know the place/ the block / the music / food
the MOVE of ALL of it you know?
I WANNA allow myself to go there
And
yeah maybe I am scared
BUT
I maintain my cool

( beat)

Sometimes when I watch Peachy and he gets mad/ says something nasty/ I MAKE
myself remember him the way he was / before he started using drugs.
I think He lost it – he lost his cool and maybe I can help him find it again

I want to say to My Pops/ ( pause) want to ask Him’ Poppy what happened / who
crushed you/ / How did they do it? / don’t believe them/ don’t

Mommy- you’re the best one ever/ the most beautiful one there was /IS

So yeah / I think ALL these things

Walking the block

Playing some sound

Maintaining my cool

Just as cool as I please

I’m gonna dance, a Rimbaud / James Baldwin /

Piri Thomas Dance
a Spanish stroll
Literary meringue
Gonna reach inside myself and write it- WRITE IT
Beyond the housing project back staircase wall
Solid, baby
Solid in the move,yo

(Narrator becomes self )

Narrator;
Puerto Rican and Black
Latin and Soul
Spanish/ soul
Salsa and soul
Sal/ soul
Con mi amigo siempre

Hector and me/ we used to get caught in ‘our’ walk/ ‘our’ sal/soul’ walk/ It’s Mt Morris
Park and we’re walking past/ in/ through it / taking in sights and smells of Harlem- his
block/my block. It’s arroz con pollo y habichuela- his block
It’s Grits n greens n Bahamanian rice n peas w/ coconut—my block. –Harlem-
Black/Latin- Harlem. Somebody’s got a radio and they’re sitting in the playground near
the basketball court. Me and Hector walk past Paul, Walter, and Sarah. On my block-
Moreno Harlem- they talk badly about Puerto Ricans, West Indians. Paul once saw me
and Hector walking together and said,( does him)’ Yo man, Puerto Ricans wear loud
colors and love them summer clothes even in winter, man. Dem ole West Indian niggas is
da some way’. I tell Paul-‘ stupid motherfucker/ you’re stupid’. He looks at me and
laughs and grabs himself,’ wanna suck dis hoe’. I grab myself. I don’t have a penis but
grab myself as if I do. Paul’s jaw falls open in shock. Hector looks at me and laughs/

Hector’s brother- his name was Alejandro but everybody called him ‘Peachy’ and he had
been shooting dope since he was me and Hector’s age and even though his arms and
hands were swollen, he swore up and down he wasn’t hooked. Peachy( cause he craved
peach ice cream) couldn’t/ wouldn’t see that he was hooked/ He couldn’t/ wouldn’t see
the scars/ he covered his arms even in the summer because he couldn’t/ wouldn’t see the
scars/ he couldn’t bear the thought of having scars. Even if you showed him- the scars ,
he couldn’t/ wouldn’t see that he was hooked

Nilda was Peachy’s girlfriend but everybody called he“Sugar’ because she ate lemons
dipped in cane sugar. Her habit was worse than Peachy’s. They said- the junkies on 110th
and Lexington as well as the junkies on 125th and Lexington said that she- Sugar was a
great Poet. They said- junkies and non junkies/ Rican and Black- they said both on 110th
and on 125th that she could conjure up truth with words. They said- Latin / Black junkies/
Latin/Black non junkies, they said that she could make up poems on the spot and could
recite poems- any poem on the spot and made you feel like she was talking to you and
only you.

( Narrator becomes Nilda and recites poem/ Leonard Cohen’s’ Suzanne’ plays as a
loop)

I am Thirteen ‘N’ Bleeding

‘N’ there are bloodstains in
Panties
And the Catholic school
Uniform itches my skin and I’m
Told that I gotta watch
Myself now
‘Cause
I’m a girl now and
I gotta get my hair
Pressed ‘N’ curled ‘cause I’m
A girl now
And
If I wanna go to Randall’s
Island to shoot dice and
Play stickball with a gang
Of boys, I can’t
‘Cause I’m a girl now
And
If I dream of
Touching boys differently it’s
Because I’m becoming
A young woman now and
If I dream of lipstick
Traces, it’s because
I’m becoming a young woman
Now…

And I’m Thirteen ‘N’ Bleeding

Bleeding—a girl / woman
Now
with blood
Gushing from between
My legs, for the
Next forty years
And
The woman I’m supposed to
Emulate is standing
Before me caught up in
Some inebriated spent
Perception
And
I can’t believe I sucked
Milk from those defeated
Breasts or
Whispered childhood secrets
In those withered ears and
I don’t want to have babies
Give life from red—gore—
Red gore.
Blood.
I’m thirteen ‘N’ bleeding

(beat)

THEN
Nilda met Peachy. Peachy hated the name Alejandro ( does him)(‘fuckin white boy
sounding shit’ . ( back to Narrator) Peachy- girls loved him and he knew it. Sometimes
Greeneyed/ Sometimes Hazel eyed like a cat/ he- Peachy walked like a cat/ tomcat
walking / smooth talking and Nilda , she walked straight- although she came from the
Johnson projects, she walked straight-Nilda- she went to an all girls’ catholic school and
later went to Marymount College( when it was all girls) on a scholarship / she walked
straight/ She craved words/ copping every kind of word/language like Julia de Burgos/
Whitman/ Poe / and although she walked straight / and let everyone know that she
walked straight- she fell for Peachy and started walking Spanish.

Peachy’s arms were swollen and people said,’ can’t you see that Nilda?- that his arms are
swollen.’ Peachy was on the corner- always on the corner / selling dope on the corner/
constantly massaging his right arm/(his shooting arm) with his left hand/ his hands in
motion/ hand jive motion/ doing/ talking the ‘hand jive’ on the corner and although he
was on the corner- often in a nod- there was something about him that was sexy/ slick.

All Nilda saw / WANTED to see was the sexy/slick.

Peachy told her she acted like a ‘white girl. ( does him) All them books an shit. Yo , baby
dis is El Barrio an you Latina / you gotta put some Salsa in your step if you wanna hang
wit me’.
( slight pause/ back to being Narrator)

Nilda was on the corner with Peachy three months later. Non junkies shook / then
eventually turned their heads. Junkies said “she messed up& she’s out here now/ out here
for good’. Nilda went into deep/ deep nods on the corner. No one knew what her nod//
dream was. Once when I was hanging out with Hector who was hitting Peachy up for
some money( Peachy dealt dope so he pretty much always had some kind of money) I
was watching her- Nilda nod/ dream, I wondered within her nod did she still dream of
poems?

( Narrator becomes Nilda as drug addict/late teens / early twenties/ Music that plays as a
loop /Marvin Gaye’s ‘Make me wanna Holler. Note; Poem should not be delivered in an
angry manner / nor should it be done ‘ too drugged’. the poem is self explanatory )

Rat Dreams Descent into Hell

The body of the rodent was

Smashed against my only
Dress and its eyes landed
On the bathroom wall and
My mother and neighbors
Were laughing at this
Permanent fixture—laughing
Next to the acid-stained
Faces of street-fighting
Woman hungering for the
Kisses of another
Woman’s husband which was
Next to the burnt-out
Alley
Which was sealed off with
Auschwitz bobbed wire
Which at one time held
Rat-infested buildings
Which housed bitten children
Some who continue
To
Stay ‘N’ play stickball
Emulating
The Moviola
Innocence of suburban kids
Who drink chocolate malts
Leaving mustaches and
In continuation of this
Rat crawl Rasta men invade
My bed in a dream
Within a dream where
Balso Snell type nightmares
Parts my legs
With the
Hush hush consent of the urban
Bushman
And 5:00 a.m. becomes
3:00 p.m. and spasms from
Not being able to
Put a knife thru my
Gut infuriates me and
I pick up the phone
Instead
And a black girl’s volunteer
Voice tries to keep me
Alive via Ma Bell
(She’s new at this, I can tell)
And not equipped to deal
With suicide just yet.
Later with $15.00 saved
I go downtown to drink
Vodka to sleep
And
Sometimes
I just wanna
Jump in the grave ‘cause
I can’t make the grade,
Sometimes
I just wanna
Jump in the grave ‘cause
I can’t make the grade,
Coming out of the
Subway, a dead man
Fighting, a permanent slumber
is drinking cheap wine
With
Determination and he
Stops dead in his tracks
And says to me, “Shit girl!
You see how down ‘N’ out I am!
If I can smile and try ‘N’
Live, why can’t you”

I smile back Temporarily

Rejuvenated but as soon as I
Hit the street where I
Live, the stench of the
Crack pipe hits my nostrils
Smoked, by neighborhood
Boy / girl whores pretending to
Cum / Selling nothing for
Cheap
It dawns on me that the
Only thing that separates
Me from them are the books
In my room
And
When I sleep, I
Scream myself awake
And
When I sleep, I
Scream myself awake
And
When I sleep,
I
Dream of my mother’s
Birth planet Uranus
Thinking it must be a cold place filled
With the upturned noses
And elastic hands of
Strangulating bitches.

(lights change/ Narrator becomes self)

Narrator
Wear a face
Dig your back
Wear a hard face
Dig your back
Don’t let them see it if they make you cry

Don’t cry
Stop yourself from doing it- crying
No time for crying
If you cry, you’re soft
Punk
Bitch
soft
Get
Be
Stay
HARD

I keep walking in/ through Mt Morris/ Marcus Garvey park

I get to the playground and see kids on the swings. They’re laughing/ screaming/ betting
each other how high they can go without getting scared. Next to the swings, are some
little girls playing jacks and Miss Mary Mack..

Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack

All dressed in black, black, black
With silver buttons, buttons, buttons
All down her back, back, back.
She asked her mother, mother, mother
For 50 cents, cents, cents
To see the elephants, elephants, elephants
Jump over the fence, fence, fence.
They jumped so high, high, high
They reached the sky, sky, sky
And they didn't come back, back, back
'Til the 4th of July, ly, ly!

There are still roses in Moreno/ Spanish Harlem.

( music that comes up is Joe Cuba ‘s El Pito’)

I walk out of the park. I hit 116st-La Marketa. / Latin/ Black women determined to get
the ‘best’ meat/fish for their families. The old Radiance bar is long gone , but on the
street the men still play dominoes/ merchants are selling ‘designer’ perfume/clothes
promising that it will last forever ‘ or at least for a good while’ …. A child of about four
yells down to me / I look up and she blows me a kiss…. There are more and more roses
in Spanish/ Moreno Harlem

( Music fades)

I continue to walk.

I hit 86th street and Madison

No music/ no kids playing on the streets/doormen who don’t smile/ ladies with poodles
who occasionally smile.

Black/Latin women pushing white babies in carriages avoid my eyes

I see a white guy bum a cigarette off a black man. The Black man pulls out a Kool and
holds a match for the white guy as he puffs to get a light and then walks off. As soon as
the Black man walks off, the white guy frowns, looks at the cigarette, takes two more
puffs , tossing it into the gutter saying ( does voice) ‘ It figures, They all smoke fucking
menthols’.

Uptown people call it the ‘Junkie’ cigarette because junkies smoke them and they’re
supposed to be harder on the lungs than any other cigarette. My mother’s cousin said that
( does voice)“Kools kill people faster than any other pack of smokes on the market.Dat’s
why dem ole junkies smoke them strong things. Anyway way to fuck ya self up- they- the
junkies know it & do it.”

I’m now on 72 and fifth avenue and walking across the great lawn. Balls/Frisbees are
being tossed/ sunbathers / lunches/ couples/singles/ radios/ Asian/ Latin/ White/ Black- A
New York Gumbo.

Watching them now/

Watching them thirty years ago
remembering how I wanted.
( Narrator becomes 16 year old. The Trogg’s Wild thing ‘ comes up as a loop)

I’m 16/ want to cry/ stay up all night/ want to kiss/ want to yell
I’m 16/ I want and I want some more.

I’m 16/ needing to walk/ needing to get out/ needing throw Harlem off/ needing to get
OUT/ if only for a few hours// I’m looking for rock n roll/ I’m looking for home/ for
family/Baldwin/ Kerouac said it was downtown/ east village / black, yellow, white.
brown and the people are wearing different kinds of clothes / and the people are walking
a walk / different / the same / of / everybody else / I wanna go next to / in / connect / how
do I do that / get into / next / connect / be part of / want to know their names / café / bar /
rock ‘n’ roll people / what are your names? / and another black girl / sister / rocker gives
me the power sign as we hear the New York Dolls from a car radio / and I think it might
be / may be / down here / East Village / might be / may be / alright
alright
alright

( Narrator becomes Cherry/ Black female rock n roll musician 45-50 homeless drug
addict panhandling in the east village)

Cherry’s Habit

Hey, Hey can anybody spare some change. Excuse me, miss can you spare some...?
(beat) Hey, hey come on, you know me. It’s Cherry. You know, Cherry, from the Johnson
projects. (beat) Hey, hey, how you doin? It’s really good to see you. Yeah, you look great.
Oh yeah, I’m still playin. Still rockin and rollin. Shit I miss the old days. Don’t you miss
the old days? CBGB’s man. Max’s Kansas City. Didn’t it break your heart when they
closed CBGB’s man? These people now. They don’t know. They don’t know man. I mean
the East Village now. Who can afford to live here? Fucking yuppies, man. Who me? Well
I’m crashing on squats on Avenues C and D.. The Band?.. well we broke up you know
but I’m like I’m still playing/ really, man still playing/did a few solo gigs..when? well
about nine months back but no, the MUSIC it’s STILL here, you know.. it’s still here..
(beat) I had to put the guitar in hock, you know, for the time being. Just for the time
being. Tony? Oh I haven’t seen Tony for a while, man.. in fact I haven’t seen him for
almost two years… yeah since he cleaned up. I mean since he cleaned up he got so
uppity, man since he got clean and he’s the one who turned me on to this shit in the first
place, man… I mean I know in my heart that I could have said no.. I’m not going to lie to
you. I’m still doin dope and if I lie the only person I’m fooling is myself. See, you’d
figure I’d know better but playin rock’n’roll man, back in the day bein black and female
you gotta prove it to ‘em. you gotta prove it to ‘em that you can rock’n’roll. See I didn’t
fit in uptown like you didn’t fit in uptown. You love rock’n’roll too, right?. I mean, I
looked up to you. Oh yeah baby,. We go back thirty years, man./ Remember? Seward
Park High School/ I’m in Math class. You were sitting next to me. I was kind of humming
under my breath. “Waiting for My Man.”… and you looked. You kind of looked over at
me/ I stopped because I thought you were going to say something to me. But you started
humming too. That’s right. Lou Reed. I mean I don’t have to tell you cause you can feel
like a freak because you ain’t no disco queen and you don’t want to be no disco queen,
right? Then you hear Hendrix, Arthur Lee and then you say ‘YES- this is IT/ I ain’t
alone’. Then you hear the Dolls, Lou Reed and you say ‘yeah, this is it/ this is what I
feel/ This is what I want to do/ I wanna play this.’ But in order for you to play this you
gotta feel it. Gotta feel it like the cats who made it. (beat) So you shoot dope. Yeah, I
know it’s no good… BUT
Dope is really good, you know, in the beginning/ the notes drip from your fingers like
honey. Every note/ every sound is possible and you feel it in your fingers and in your
crotch…. Yeah I know it’s no good..I know .. I know/ BUT in the beginning you’re
playing great/ you’ve gone beyond the chord/ you’re INSIDE the chord/ you’re INSIDE
the music itself/ you and the music are ONE.. that’s what dope is like in the beginning
and then…well you know… Next thing you know you wake up sick and you don’t expect
that. I mean, you really don’t expect that. And the sound ain’t flowin the way it use to and
you want to get back to it- THAT sound because you want, need the music. But then it all
comes down to copping and then you look down at your swollen hands and say, ‘shit,
how the fuck did I get here.’ But I will say one thing for sure. I will get clean. But you
know how it is. They make you wait to get into a program. You need all this paper to
prove you have a place to stay, all bureaucratic bullshit. So listen, homegirl. You got like
ten dollars? I’ll pay you back. I mean, I won’t lie to you. I’m gonna be sick soon and I’m
gonna have to cop and the second thing is don’t tell anybody you seen me out here, okay.
I mean, it’s embarrassing. Thanks for the ten, man. I’ll pay you back. No man, I wanna
pay you back. And trust me baby, I’ll be rockin’. I will be rockin and rollin again. Take
care and thanks. Hey can anybody spare any change? Anybody got any change?

( Narrator becomes self / sits on the reciting this poem)

Senses
You know, I’ve walked this walk before where razor cut
glances can slice the skin of the toughest whore. I’ve heard
this rap before.

Like when you get your first kiss your first kiss is gonna bring music and the
music is gonna swell and get bigger ‘n’ bigger like an Italian movie. I’ve witnessed this
scene before like when
someone’s mother chain-smokes while they drink and
they talk
about when they were young—‘cause when they were young they
were good-lookin’ and men dug them, and they take a final
pull on their drink and the smoke comes out their nostrils
and they end the whole rap by saying, “My God, ain’t life a
bitch.

I dreamt this somewhere before . I touched these shoes of Mary

Magdalene on Avenue D. Blood was flowing from her feet.
Spanish dances were hanging on shiny, aluminum store fronts
Gutted tenements echo another dark black nigger future
(Phantasmagoria, they call it) Somebody’s popping chewing
gum or maybe it’s the click of the hooker’s shoes pacing the
pavement three o’clock in the morning.

Lovers are tongue-kissing in the doorway and the souls of

young boys are trapped underneath the hoods of stolen cars
and love is something cranked up real loud on a dilapidated
stereo for everybody in the street to hear. Or, maybe
love’s a rumble or maybe it’s Neptune putting on black
velvet gloves and dancing again.

You walk
You walk on
Side step
Walk up

And you see yesterday, today, people.

The look/ smell of someone you knew thirty years ago.

It’s them
But it’s not them
They’re a shadow/ fade
kind of like Dear Mr. Fantasy
Did I miss it?

Did they really fade

And the now.. it’s repeating itself.

( moves from STOOP to stage right / there is a chair and table stage right/ she sits
down)

I’m sitting in a coffee shop.

It used to be the Disco Donut coffee shop

But

It isn’t.

But
it still is.

And two girls walk in.

High heeled girls/ just like the girls

from Max’s Kansas City/CBGB’s/ back in the day.

Same black clothes, motorcycle jackets

studs in noses/ ears/ mouths/ multicolored hair/

black eyeliner.

High heeled girls talking about Johnny.

Now and thirty years ago..

It’s all the same.

Construction workers and businessmen are sitting next to each other but don’t speak to
each other. The construction workers & Businessmen take each other in but try not to be
obvious/ they’re sitting together in the shop thinking of what one lacks & wants and what
the other has and wants to get rid of but must keep for the sake of appearance/ they want
to connect to each other/ they don’t know how / they want to know each other- know
about each other w/ out connecting/ they want to find out things/ w/out REALLY
talking . They know this but don’t know. But they DO KNOW that it’s early & morning
& they Don’t feel like going to work& they both- (at least this morning) hate what they
do. It’s Monday & early & there is the hatred of Mondays & starting over. They- the
construction workers & businessmen watch the girls enter and Use them as an excuse to
connect to each other for a moment &these girls don’t seem to have to BE any place &
that bothers them / that they. – these girls seem to be able to do what they please & when
they please& just BE- they the Businessmen & Construction workers can’t do that &
they’re angry & they need to take it out on them- these girls- even for a moment, they can
connect to each other- take the heat off themselves by making fun of two teenaged
groupie girls who seemed to move to their own beat. The girls order coffee , sandwiches,
donuts loudly/ they do it loudly because they know they’re being stared at& for them it’s
the closest they’ll ever get to being famous . They had just left the Chelsea Hotel
They sit at the counter &loudly talk about( does a voice) ‘giving Johnny head’.
They say ( does a voice)’ Johnny’s a great guitarist & that he’ll never sell out
They say ( does voice)’ Johnny’s got great coke n dope an these fuckin people in this
coffee shop
probably listen to KISS-FM or worse yet- classic rock.

The girls/ their voices get louder/ they’re trying to shock the guy behind the counter by
saying how’ sore’ their pussies are’ & he looks at/ through them/ fills/refills their cups
& my cup & anybody else’s cup who wants a fill/ refill but they- the girls can’t stand the
thought of someone not looking/ they HATE it- that someone is indifferent . they’re
determined for SOMEONE to listen- SOMEONE. The businessmen &construction
workers are listening &

They- the girls begin to run down names. The list gets long/ longer/ aimlessly long/
longer & I know that they might have fucked a lot of people but not as many as they
claimed but the construction workers & businessmen don’t know that & they are
repulsed/ amused/ turned on by the girls & if they could they’d like to get a little head
before work & afterwards if they got it- head- they would call them cunts/ sluts & would
quickly wash their dicks of any trace of them.

The girls look towards the window and squeal in unison. “Johnny’ has just walked in. he
comes over to them casually- studied rock star cool. He sits next to them & they touch
him. Johnny- his hair is methodically messed / his pants predictably tight & he- Johnny is
for the most part if one were to get past clothes & hair, plain looking border lining on
ugly. I look at Johnny & know he-Johnny
was the one that got picked on in highschool/
he- Johnny was the one that got beaten/taken/ laughed at/
he- Johnny couldn’t get chicks&he – Johnny picked up the guitar to show them/ show
them all &
he- Johnny- all his songs are about the wildn angry young men& all the wild n angry
young men need is their guitar & one girl & fuck society

Most of the construction workers & business men have left. The few that are left stopped
paying attention to the two girls for a while now & they the girls are so thrilled that he-
Johnny came in & had coffee with them/ coffee that – they the girls bought…

I wanted to tell them about the look/ about the look Johnny gave them but part of them
knew/ they knew but didn’t want to know. They gave him- Johnny their all& he- Johnny
shot into them/ got sucked by/ licked by them/ (I know he didn’t kiss them/ I know he-
Johnny would NEVER kiss them on the mouth/ He- Johnny got his fill& was done &
they – the two girls knew that/ they knew they were done/ Nobody had to tell them/ that
they were done/ they knew

They knew that they were only a New York moment

( Narrator gets and becomes Al/ walks Stage left/ music that comes up is Nina Simone’s
cover of ‘ Gimme a pig foot and a bottle of beer’)

Two Damn Trains

Al; (close to seventy / he’s with his friend Tiny and they’re coming from Harlem to the
west village)

Al; Hey Tiny! Where the hell is this club at, man (mumbling almost to himself) take two
damned trains to get here/ come all the way down here/ what the hell for?/ to see these
freaky behind people down here in the village/ I don’t need to see this/ why the hell
Didn’t Nina Simone play the goddamned Apollo/ what the hell would she wanna come
down here with all these freaks- goddamn- I hate this shit!/ look at that over there with
pink hair and plastic pants!( yells out to person) I betcha your mother’s real proud of you
son- real proud!/ ..look where the hell is the damned club, man…. Aw look there you go
tryin to talk some young girl/ that don’t want you , man.. what is she? About twenty?//
here you are 68 years old trying to get in some young girl’s face..boy You need to sit
down somewhere and rest yourself… what you mean age ain’t nothing but a number/ I
betcha if you drop your drawers and she sees that old wrinkled thing of yours you’ll find
out age ain’t nuthin but a number -.look here man- Where’s this damned club.. I don’t
feel like walkin over the damned place ,man.. it was bad enough having to take two
trains/ walking all them stairs ,man../ See I ain’t like you I know I’m an old man.. I’m not
trying to be nothing I’m not.. .. Throw that damned pizza away and ask somebody where
the damned club is./.She better show up/ last time I tried to see Nina she didn’t show up/
Two damned trains to get down here and this fat bastard can’t do shit.. fat motherfucker /
why the hell they call fat people Tiny anyway// come all the way down here/ why the
hell Nina Simone have to play down here in this freaky village place.. People with pink
hair and plastic pants / I could stand on 125 and see all the shit in the world for free/ I
don’t have to pay no money and take two trains and see it.. TINY where the hell is this
damned club!.. .. Nina Simone should have played the Apollo/ at least then I could just
walked home.. coming down like this.. .. TINY .. THIS is the club.. Hey man, tell me
your lyin.. Well I know looks are deceiving,man… But that means I got to go down the
stairs/ and then come backup the stairs/ you see I got this cane, man.. I don’t need to walk
all these stairs/ takin the damn train was enough.. We got to wait for what?.... Wait for a
ticket and then come back out?.HELL NO/ look you go down there and get the tickets
and I’ll wait up here and then when you get the tickets Holler for me to come down and I
will.. I’ll be damned if I go down to get the tickets and come back up and then go back
down again just to come back up again .. shit I ain’t goin nowhere / spend enough
money for the ticket and takin two trains to get here.. Hey Tiny, what’s goin on? .. Do
what ? What do you mean they cancelled the concert.. Godddamn she didn’t show up
AGAIN?/WHAT – I’ll be damned! You tryin to tell me I take two trains and come all the
way down here/ your fat ass gets loss and I’m walking around lookin at all these freaks
and they cancel the damn show !... Goddamn- get me the hell back uptown and give me
my damned money for them tickets and you know what else ? .. you payin back my
trainfare too ,man!.. took two damned trains to get here.. two damned trains .. comin all
the way down here/ coulda stayed in Harlem, man..

( Narrator becomes self again stands in front of the STOOP)

Narrator;
Walking the streets of West Village passing the café Wha?
 watching a young boy looking at a picture of Bob Dylan when he was Free Wheelin’
Bob
Walking the cobblestone streets of the West Village thinking how Dylan Thomas
couldn’t do the 39 shots in the White Horse Tavern
And
thinking about Amiri Baraka when he was Leroy kickin word at the Kettle of Fish bar
And
Kerouac sitting there/watching/drinking

Walking I see a young girl, Young n tough/ unsure. Sitting on the steps of a library. She
looks up/ down/ away/ back up/ then back down. I see her holding a book.
A young girl
I see her
Or
Maybe
I see me

(sits on the step of the stoop)

I grasped books / hungered to read / which is how I found the library / I knew that the
library was filled with books - words/ There were words and more words / It was quiet /
no fights / loud music / quiet / still
( Narrator becomes a ten year old girl)

/ and I read here / I write here / none of the kids on the block come here/ “it’s corny”/
they say/ they see me going in / or going out “fat doofus going to the library / fat
doofus” / I yell, “mind your own fucking business.”

I turn my back / focus on books / the books are worn / some have pages missing / I don’t
care / I take the books / the pages / sometimes I smell the pages / like inhaling words.

The lady/ the librarian says/ “Books are good / words are tools / people who write books
put ideas on paper and let us know we’re not alone” / outside I say, “oh good” Inside I
say, “why is she telling me this? / what does she want?”

I’m aware how the light hits the books / How the dust rises with the light / the sunlight
specifically hitting the books that very few people here read / I want to read all these
books / I get upset when I see that they’re torn / why can’t the books have all the pages?/
I think when I grow up I’m gonna have a house filled with books / every room will be
filled with words.
( Narrator becomes adult self)

Narrator

Yesterday/ year people

Walking to a jagged beat

And

I saw this face

A face
an old/ new face

A girl I knew when we were fifteen

And

She ran streets faster than I did

( lights change/ Narrator becomes childhood friend Inez/ Inez talks to the Narrator)

Inez; GURL you know how I was / I was just so damned crazy/ falling for these crazy
motherfuckers driving fine cars

I couldn’t help it- falling for pretty boys in fine cars/ Man you know I was/ I would sit
on that Stoop/ and if one drove up/ and if he got out of that car / and if he was tall and
had a smooth rap/ I was GONE/ I mean if that tall pretty boy with that fine ride could lay
down a good rap/ I KNEW that he was taking me away.
( beat)

Every Saturday- My mother and them- her and all her girlfriends – they was ALWAYS
in the living room playing old records / getting drunk talking about / crying about
how their men cheat on them/ or beat them / or just up and left them

And

They kept playing

Billie

Dinah

Aretha

And

there was this one record they ran to death called ‘ Nothin but a heartache ‘ by the this
group called the Flirtations

They kept playing it over and over

And

They kept smokin/ drinkin/talkin/ cryin

And

I couldn’t take all that noise/ and carryin on

So
I went out on the Stoop and even though it was hot outside/ I’d rather be out there then
to be inside with all that mess/ and I’m sitting and I had on these red short shorts and a
white tank top/ I was READY and GURRL/ this pretty boy/ this pretty Latin boy in a
fine car stops in front of the building / and he leans over and looks at me sayin ( does
peachy voice’s ) ‘You too pretty to be looking so sad Mommita ‘

And

He got out of this long /dark car / and cat walked over to me/ Gurl/ he walked like a
cat/ he had green eyes and he came over / sat on the stoop with me and talked to me
and he said ( does Peachy) How you doing love- My name Is Peachy and I got to tell
you that you are SO FINE and you know/ I don’t go around talking to ANY girl just
like that/ You sittin here /looking sad / are you okay?

( Beat )

He took me the hand / into his car

And
GURL/ I started messing with him

And

He could dance

Damn- that boy could Dance

He’s spin me

Take me GURL

It could be

Tito Puente

Fania All stars

Or

Real Old slow jams

And
Peachy – he would dance anywhere- he didn’t care what nobody said / he’d say ‘ Yo I
don’t care / it ‘s ALL a DANCEFLOOR to me , Baby

One time we was in his car coming back from somewhere

And
we was on the FDR drive and the oldies station was on and he drove to FDR park/
stopped/ and We got out and he said ‘ get out Baby- we gotta dance to this ‘

He turned the radio up real loud

And

GURL- he held me real close as we was dancin to that real old jam ‘ I only have eyes for
You ‘ by the Flamingoes
And

GURL of course you know what happened / I looked into those green /hazel eyes and
started walking Spanish and next thing you know I was pregnant and he got cold- Man
he got COLD/ so cold and said ‘ Yo how do I know it’s mine?/like they say Momma
baby/ Daddy maybe’.

And

My mother said ( does her) Well I told you/ I told you didn’t it?

And

I had the baby

He came around every once in a while to see the baby / then stopped

( beat)

Just stopped

And

I said ‘Ah uh/ no more / I’m DONE ‘

( slight pause)

BUT

A few years later / another one came around / fine motherfucker / in a pretty car

I was eighteen by then

Charlie was his name

And

Gurl- he could play the guitar

I was sitting on the Stoop and he was driving his car and he saw me on the stoop with
the baby and I Still had my shape and of course he leaned down to get a look at me
I heard this music coming out of his car

And

I never heard nuthin like that before

He was playin Classical guitar music

And
He got out of the car /and he was TALL / so tall and fine

And

He walked over /standin over me

And

His face/ his face was almost pretty

You know how certain guys are almost pretty like a girl?

Well Charlie looked like that except of course he was a guy

Then

he said’ Your baby is beautiful’ and I said ‘ thank you’ and he said’ Well , she obviously
got it from you ‘

And

The way Charlie looked at me- GURL / he made me feel like I was the most beautiful
woman in the world and the way he spoke/ you could tell he was smart and he had class
you know?
And

I said ‘who’s that playing guitar – it’s beautiful’

And

He said ‘ It’s me/ I’m playing Vivaldi’

And

I Didn’t know who that was and I said ‘ Well I don’t know who that is and he said
‘Well/ we’ll solve that / how about we go to a concert ‘
And
he took me to all these classical music concerts and you know I liked it / I really liked it
and we’d go to Museums and you know walk Museum mile .. I mean I really liked it
and the way he spoke abut art and music..

I REALLY fell for him

Never met nobody like him before

I mean he read all these books and I said ‘ Charlie / I love the music and museums/ I
love all this/ you know I don’t know much / I mean I feel so stupid around you / you
know ?/ I feel so like NOTHING’

And

He shushed me and said ‘ You stop that / stop talking like that ‘

And

GURL – you know what happened..

He was a good lover / patient and stuff and really good with my daughter

Then one day I tell him / I say Charlie I’m pregnant ‘

And

I knew he would take me by the hand/ lead me off that stoop/ into his car/ and we’d
have a house in the country with lots of kids

He looked at me

He looked me up and down

He looked at me like I was nuthin and said ‘ how do I know it’s mine?

And

I said ‘ Charlie / you’re the only one I been with’

He looked me up and down

And
Laughed

He laughed this real hard laugh

And

Gurl My eyes teared up

( beat)

He came around every once in a while to see the baby

Then

Stopped

My daughter ALWAYS asks question about him

She’s tried to find him… Well you know how it is

And

I tried to tell my girls to be careful / don’t listen to nuthin these Muckerfuckers say/

As soon as you give ‘IT’ to them- they go

The oldest one didn’t listen of course- just like that damned Peachy but the youngest
one- Well she said ‘ Not me/ I don’t want kids/ I wanna go to school’

She reminds me of Charlie

She Loves to read

And

She listens to ALL kinds of music

And

She likes to go to Museums

I don’t care how short on money I am/ If she wants a book

Or
Needs carfare because she wants to go to a museum or library - I get it
I don’t care if I have to borrow it- I get it

And
She is good in school/ real good

So gurl – maybe / just maybe I did something right!

( lights change

( Narrator goes back to being self)

She keeps talking

And
I keep looking at her

I keep looking at her remembering how I wanted to be like her

Because

She kissed more boys than I ever could

And could drink

And dance

And fight

But I KNEW I didn’t want a baby

I knew it if I did/ I’d never go beyond the Stoop or the block

I knew that at fifteen

And
maybe she did too but chose not to SEE
And
We stood there talking –talking about being fifteen
Her eyes would look down/ away/ up again

And

And the
Gap is wide Now
So wide now

And herself
And myself
At aged fifteen has been long rolled up/ folded away but we want to get back to / fifteen
/ for the moment

And she said something about 125 street Now

And
How it ain’t what it used to be

But to me

It never really Was

And

I stood there and watched

I watched the pale boys and girls

Walking with out a care

Whose parents twenty years ago / would HIDE

Made a point of not going up/past 96 street

Who would ask me / How safe it was

How clean / dirty it was

How could I live there

And could I cop some dope for them?

And as I watch them

Their daughters and sons

Gassed up and

I think how at fifteen

There was no stride in my walk

How the only flashes of light came from knife fights

And
The funeral for the kid from that fight

And the mural for that kid

And
How at fifteen
I also had to be thirty

And know what blocks not to cross

Or what policeman

And I knew there was more

But

No one seemed to care

Or maybe they didn’t question

How sal/soul boys
Like Ray and Anthony
Who never got out
Choked it back and shot it up
Sat on the stoop
Clear eyed enough
To say
Go/take it/ and make it yours

And I couldn’t help

BUT

To question

And GO
And BE
And LIVE

Down town

Where I can walk to every beat

But I think

The NOW 125th Street

with its’ new set of Stairs/polished and gleaming

Still has hints and whispers of
Nod
And drink

( music that comes up/ Lou reed’s ‘walk on the wild side’ comes in as a loop)

And girls and boys who wondered

As they lindyhopped
Soul twisted
Salsaed
Electric slid
But ended up getting lost around the block

And as I watch the sun drenched girls

Nouveau Black Boys
Or maybe someone from Italy
Or from India
Walking past
I think they’ll never know
THAT Harlem
They’ll have their own
beat
sound
Sitting there on it-the stoop
Pulsating
with THEIR new language

( end of play)