The Last Days of Coney Island

The Last Days of Coney Island

Off in Coney Island there’s an otter
in the water
And some harbor seals in tanks
in the aquarium
And penguins and brown pelicans
Who envy all
The gliding gulls and pizza-pecking
pigeons there
And rays who pray for hurricanes
to come
and wreck their prison — some desire
Streams
of steaming blood, and floods to drown
the metropoles
Though most just want their freedom —
Want to flee from
The aquarium — as men stand on the
Boardwalk
Waving bottles, calling: Water!
I scold water!
Ice cold

 

Elliot Sperber is a writer, attorney, and adjunct professor. He lives in New York City and can be reached at elliot.sperber@gmail.com and on twitter @elliot_sperber