If you put trash in you die
Water this plant
every 10 days
or someone else will die
working too much
arthritis everywhere
here, there
it's all rain in the street
all flipping over your handlebars
as trolley track
catches your wheel
We could win this city
The poor live
on the other side of the street
where trolley tracks begin
get your tokens
You think of the river
its divided halves
Where'd all the oysters go
Poor people just take and take
says a landlord
with a house on 11th
and a house on Porter
and a house on Snyder
and a house on Broad
a couple on Moyamensing
The list tugs on
The city's a delivery driver
bringing tax abatements
Schools are cracking
Water is chalk
I wouldn't drink from that fountain
says a coworker
Find another your liver
can't take it.
If you put trash in
you die
Tell it to the mayor
whose priorities
are white folks
stealing the city
They don’t like
what’s on the menu
The river dries
into a parched tongue
If They Colonize Space Where Will the Stars Go?
Am I exhausted or in love?
You can get a pack of pancake mix and tuna for 97 cents at the Sav-A-Lot.
I was having a cigarette with a friend
While a banjoist plucked night into her strings.
When I told you I was too tired, I meant
I’d forgotten to take my Xanax.
I didn’t go to the event because of the rain.
Now it’s night. The buses here don’t work.
No one has the money to fix anything,
So your landlord raises rent.
And this is why people are patriotic.
This is why we live in a culture of fear.
The weather says bring an umbrella but there aren’t any.
Like Neruda, I am tired of being a man.
I once ran away from thunder until I realized I couldn’t.
Which is why to sleep we need Ambien.
Which is why while resting the heart quivers.
If a lover asked you to revolt, would you?
Gianni Gaudino
Gianni Gaudino is an 8th grade literacy teacher for The School District of Philadelphia. His poems appear in Muzzle Magazine, Yes Poetry, Whirlwind Magazine, among others. He lives in South Philly.