On the Road to the Contagious Crack House

row houses 
occupied by their original owners 
first generation Hungarian 
immigrants brought in 
to the states by Johnson 
& Johnson early in the 
20th century 

plaster Madonnas 
& no shortage 
of shrines 

an occasional 
goldfish pond 
gone brackish 
with dis- 
ease 

4 foot high 
chain link 
fences 

gates 
off kilter 
scratching 
grooves into 
the sidewalk— 

& everything 
leaning a little.