Early Morning on the Upper East Side

Early Morning on the Upper East Side

Wind kicks up
sending swirls of leaves
fluttering about the sidewalk,
like many winged butterflies
leaving the ground.
8 AM is not too early
to spill your guts across the asphalt,
rotten bloody entrails
baking in the hot morning sun.
It’s not too early
for the St John’s schoolgirls,
readjusting their skirts in dark alleyways,
sending their suitors on their ways.
It is not too late
to roll up your stockings,
tie your shoelaces,
and make it to class on time.
The girls sidestep to avoid the pile,
stinking meat decomposing in the street,
yanking on their sweatshirts
trying to salvage their reputations.
The leaves settle outside the classroom windows,
under the baleful watch of prep-school boys
longing for the busty young women
who wink coquettishly upwards,
their plaid skirts swinging in the breeze.
The boys cover their laps with textbooks,
and the teacher drones on and on.