young man 
on the edge of the floor 
at studio 54
where the girls dance in sea foam
synthetic silks
circled by men in iridescent suits 

no need to feel down
a baby in the round
the building of a tower
tenants swimming in shit and cold water

the voices in his head
recall a time of expensive hamburgers
opulence and AIDS 
just before
teenage boys
dissolve into the ink
of The Daily News

young man
cemented in 1982
gloria
is just a girl and
she says
everybody wants you
hangin' on a line