GIRLS OF THE TENDERLOIN
The girls of the Tenderloin
Wear tank tops and short
Tight skirts with white
Shoes showing off black skin
Or black shoes contrasting
Their white skin
The girls of the Tenderloin
Strut their stuff
From noon to three
In the morning
Sometimes later if the
traffic allows
The girls of the Tenderloin
Stand out like a dragon in
A Chinese New Year parade
Talking heavy thick slang
Their "hey baby"
You want a date" cutting
Through the air
Like a machete
Looking for a snake
In knee-high grass
The girls of the Tenderloin
Walk talk strut their stuff
Not afraid of the law
Man's bluff
The girls of the Tenderloin
Stop traffic
With their looks
Their dark brown eyes
Thirsty as a Mexican matador
Looking for a kill
A.D. Winans is a native San Francisco poet and writer and the former editor/publisher of Second Coming. His work has been published world-wide. In 2005 a poem of his was set to music and performed at New York's Tully Hall. In 2006 he won a PEN Josephine Miles award for literary excellence. In 2007 Presa Press published a book of his Selected Poems. Cross-Cultural Press will be publishing his book (Love Minus Zero) in early 2009.
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