In the already-risen sun the morning aroma of warm garbage begins to rise in its tactile heat – the busy bustling day already well under way. A man with a pressure washer cleans the pavement in front of a bodega. From a fold-out table full of scented candles and incense a street hustler cranks some fresh pop track (“I Heard It All Over The Town”) from an iPhone bluetooth-tethered to a large active monitor. A baby in a flimsy stroller sucks fervently on a Disney-branded pacifier. The young and old, the broken and the born-again, the dreamers and the schemers hit the pavement and make moves to places across town. The music floats above the taxis, electric bikes, ambulances, and delivery trucks beneath the elevated tracks of the Myrtle-Broadway metro-station.
I buy a single trip ticket for half price from a guy hawking them in the station and slide through the turnstile. As I bounce up the steps and pass by a skinny fellow wearing a rodeo cowboy hat on the platform I overhear his partner,
“I didn’t realize PJ Harvey and Elvis Costello had a son.”
Her black hair was long and looked freshly braided with chartreuse accents and she wore a black cotton baby t cut off at her ribs. ”THE GLOVE” was silk-screened on it bubble letters. Against her dark skin was a navel ring. Just then the train screeched into the station and I couldn’t catch the response.
I stepped into the train and sat down. Pulling the other half of my roast beef, tomato, lettuce, and mayo deli sandwich out of the plastic bag, I began to devour it. Someone was playing Fingers Inc “Decision” on an iPhone 12.
“This is a skip stop train, next stop is Broadway Junction. Broadway Junction next stop,” muddled the operator distorted from overhead.
As we passed one of the local stations a guy that looked like an undercover cop or the singer from Dire Straits walked between the cars and entered ours. He was asking for some donations to buy a pizza because his wife and kid who were in a shelter hadn’t eaten.
“Why worry / There should be laughter after pain / There should be sunshine after rain / These things have always been the same / So why worry now / Why worry now”
Releases:
Nick Stevens – The New Age (GALTTA 2017)
Nick Stevens - Catching Falling Knives (GALTTA 2021)