A lad, apt for nonsense and foolish acts,
I walked (alone) a new-found city, along a road
(The fifth) of Heaven and Hell – or so, when taxed
To name it, the natives had me believe. Bestowed
(At first) with massy civic monuments
Of classic and rococo cast, sudden there came
A switch, as stark as white to black. Hence-
forth, a dismal view of dwellings, shame-
fully neglected, decrepit, the people poor, down-
Trodden, sad. And as I passed among
Them, most fixedly at me nigh all the town
Did stare. Then, a lady of pitying mien and young,
Said: “You do know you're in Harlem...?” And I was much
Amazed: for I’d heard that day not a word of Dutch.
I walked (alone) a new-found city, along a road
(The fifth) of Heaven and Hell – or so, when taxed
To name it, the natives had me believe. Bestowed
(At first) with massy civic monuments
Of classic and rococo cast, sudden there came
A switch, as stark as white to black. Hence-
forth, a dismal view of dwellings, shame-
fully neglected, decrepit, the people poor, down-
Trodden, sad. And as I passed among
Them, most fixedly at me nigh all the town
Did stare. Then, a lady of pitying mien and young,
Said: “You do know you're in Harlem...?” And I was much
Amazed: for I’d heard that day not a word of Dutch.
(28.3.1997)
