The New York City I once knew
The Village my favorite
Everything new
Everything different
Just like me
Everything odd
And welcome
And free
The West Village
With gays
And lipstick and flair
And mohawks and purple and pink
Adorned in the hair
The smoke shops
The head shops
The stores for drag queens
With 15 size platform pumps
For trans with a dream
Tattoo parlors, a piercing or too
All you could want
Imagine for you
And you could be
The person outside
The person the world
Said put aside
Put away
Go away
New York City said
Welcome
New York City
Said stay
The East Village
The punk
The alternative
The grunge
The dirt and the grime
It colored the landscaped
Made a mark for all time
With the tiny apartments
Railroad style, room to room
Hang out on the stoop
Watch the people
Hang your gloom
It’s different today
The misbegotten have run
Run from the robots
From the gentrified sum
From the chant
Be like all of us
Be just the same
Or be left in the dust
New York City
New York City
Don’t ever betray
The people who loved you
Us folks on the fray
The people who made you
The haven for sin
The haven for love
A place to begin
A place to discover
Who you really are
Without a wide eye
Judging close, judging far
New York City
New York City
Be true to yourself
Love all of your dwellers
Even the ones damned to hell
Leave a Comment