Ain’t No Superheroes in Jersey
Inspiration Piece by Tyson West
The back alley behind my Cousin Vinnie’s pizzeria
Smells of grease and malt liquor cans mostly
Occasional the smell of cordite
Mixed with oregano to spice
The blood smearing the filthy cobble stones
Of some fuck up who crossed his capo.
Yeah they got superheroes in the Big Apple
To the east across the Hudson
Yeah, we got crooked cops and Jimmy Burke
Who even if he ain’t paisano
We can still make a deal
But not with the boys and girls in bright colored tights
Who fly over the great granite towers or climb on their sides like spiders
Hell, beating up Sal for just smuggling in a semi of North Carolina smokes
Is beneath their banter and secret identities
Besides the sergeant who makes the arrest
Gotta seize five cartons of Salems for his wife, I mean, as evidence.
Response Piece by Elizabeth Akin Stelling
