DiCicco to street vendors: Shape up
Tuesday, December 26, 2000
Some say the street merchants have made sidewalks congested and unsightly. The councilman has proposed eliminating 21 vendor locations.
When rain hangs in the air and all
you want is as nameless as the fog, walk
down Eleventh Street where gloves hang
from stalls like strung chili peppers, piquins,
red and dangerous, where lilies droop
spotted tongues over cans of Santa Clara
Air Deodorizer, their printed prayers beseeching
Do justice at all times for me while essential
oils press warm invitations into air that’s full
of woodsmoke from the oil drums,
inviting you to wish for nothing more than
lavender and cinnamon, the necessary danger
of musk and rose.
Deborah Burnham
The author is director of Writing Across the University at the University of Pennsylvania. This is the first of a year-end series of commissioned poems.