stretched

it is early summer now
the long nights are still cool
and it is painfully difficult
to be caught and held captive
between the reach of two places

this town seems too small now
to hold me tight enough
and there is rarely
any sense of security or comfort
in the grasp of indecision

but not so deep in the flat-bush
there is hope for me yet
disguised in imperfection
a rare and genuine find
revealing myself to me

just forty degrees tonight
stuck in stillness
wearing my yankees cap
and recollecting thoughts
of forty-sixth and park

outgrowing my skin in this naked little place