Trains To Brooklyn

TRAINS TO BROOKLYN - 1959
                                                      


I see you sit alone
In the morning sun
Watching trains pass
On their way to the city
                                      With welfare children faces
                                      pressed against the windows
Wearing thrift store clothes and
Trying to look pretty
There will be night shift workers
Nodding off in their seats
Rest rooms boarded and closed
You’ll see the traffic backing up on the interstate
Smell its hot exhaust as it
                                Stings and burns in your nose

There will be old men with sucked in lips
                                                            Toothless with
                                                            Gums grinning
With a sordid satisfaction
Talking to themselves about the slow traffic lights
On fast and gritty streets;
Where drag queens lean by littered curbs
Along vacant buildings that have no heat

Goodmorning children…
There’s juice on the ironing board and
A bagel with cream cheese waiting for you
                      Eat slowly before leaving for school
Comb your hair -- tuck your shirt tails in
Wear a sweater –
There’s a wind banging on our windows and
Today’s an angry day that wants to be cool

By eight o’clock we’ll all be at the station
Yankees won again last night – 4 to 2
I’ll meet you on the way home tonight
Under the sign that says:
                                Trains to Brooklyn
Sit by the man
Who shines all the shoes

I won’t be long…so please behave
Buy a can of cola and Baby Ruth bar
I’ll meet you at six on the way home tonight
By the
Sign that reads:  Trains to Brooklyn
Beside the old man
Who shines all the shoes

Mama’s got some business first
I’ll pick up a can of beef and carrot stew
We’ll all meet together
Under the sign for the
                                Trains to Brooklyn
By the man we thought was God
Because he never charged us when
He shined our only pair
of shoes



Words by John Apice
C-Copyright-Registered House of Apice Lyrics /
April 30th 2002 – September 28th 2009
For Diane