<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lincoln Center Subway<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s Orpheus in the underground. Would you believe it, a busker with attitude? They think they\u2019re still in heaven, or the gods, <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Stephen Claughton<\/strong>\u2019s poems have appeared in Agenda, The Interpreter\u2019s House, Iota, London Grip, Other Poetry<\/em> and The Warwick Review<\/em> and are forthcoming in Poetry Salzburg Review<\/em> . He has twice been nominated for the Forward Best Single Poem Prize.\u00a0 Twitter @claughton_s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lincoln Center Subway It\u2019s Orpheus in the underground. He\u2019s working the downtown platform, playing a metal flute from music propped on a stand. At his feet, a tenor sax lies curled like a tamed beast. In its case\u2019s open lid lies a scatter of coins and bills he\u2019s dropped like a heavy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prose-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8209"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8212,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8209\/revisions\/8212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nHe\u2019s working the downtown platform, playing a metal flute
\nfrom music propped on a stand. At his feet, a tenor sax
\nlies curled like a tamed beast.
\nIn its case\u2019s open lid lies a scatter of coins and bills
\nhe\u2019s dropped like a heavy hint.
\nThe platform\u2019s filling up with the end-of-the-opera crowd,
\nbut his collection\u2019s not. Orpheus isn\u2019t pleased.
\n\u201cHey, people, give me a break. I\u2019m playing here for nothing.
\nSpare me a couple of bucks, whatever you want to give.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nBut as it\u2019s New York, the crowd\u2019s got attitude too.
\nThe looks they give say it all.
\nThis guy thinks he\u2019s got rights?
\nHell will freeze over before they\u2019ll come through for him.
\nIt\u2019s not their fault he\u2019s begging on the streets.
\nWho is he anyway? Some Julliard drop-out jerk,
\nwho didn\u2019t have the chops to make it
\nup there as far as the orchestra pit
\nand ended up hustling down here?<\/p>\n
\nreprising in their heads divine Mozart arias.
\nThe Met was bliss tonight; they won\u2019t let this loser spoil it.
\nWhatever he\u2019s playing, it isn\u2019t a magic flute.
\nThey don\u2019t give a damn about poverty right now,
\nnot this guy\u2019s, nor anyone\u2019s, not even Mozart\u2019s.
\nThere\u2019s a rumble; the platform shakes; a train appears.
\nTough audience, Orpheus thinks, but there\u2019ll be another one soon.
\nHis head, still playing, bobs above the stand.
\nThey look as if they\u2019d like to tear him to bits.<\/p>\n