NEW YORK APARTMENT BLOCK


from the ABC set THE HUMAN CONDITION

An old New York apartment block - face besmirched by time
Its grandeur long diminished by - a mask of age and grime,
Shipwrecked in a neighbourhood - now hard beset by crime
An old New York apartment block - face besmirched by time.

Living in its confines - a teeming lake of life
A mother beats her child - a man cheats on his wife,
An addict hides her crack pipe - a youngster packs a knife
Living in its confines - a teeming lake of life.

Watching from the window - of apartment 7c
A man leers through a telescope - a sick voyeur is he,
Peering through the darkness - to see what he can see
Watching from the window - of apartment 7c.

Hiding in the stairwell - right about floor eight
A teenage girl concedes third base - to please her latest date,
Her pop is gonna kill her - if she gets home late
Hiding in the stairwell - right about floor eight.

Stuck for forty minutes - between floors nine and ten
The aged elevator - has gone awry again,
An aged, frightened couple - await the firemen
Stuck for forty minutes - between floors nine and ten.

Perched upon a windswept ledge - above the fourteenth floor
A stony faced gargoyle drips - through another sharp downpour,
All kinds of nasty weather - he will dourly endure
Perched upon a windswept ledge - above the fourteenth floor.

Eighteen stories from the ground - on the flat rooftop
A woman cradled in the arms - of a brave young cop,
Her desperate plan to end it all - he brought to a stop
Eighteen stories from the ground - on the flat rooftop.

An old New York apartment block - home to many folk
Crying at some memory - laughing at some joke,
The building's but an egg shell - the people are its yolk
An old New York apartment block- home to many folk.

COPYRIGHT D M PAMMENT 2009

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