Fire Escape Hymn

Fire Escape Hymn

Fourth floor walkup
hallway smells like grease
fried onions
and the lease that will not cease

Fire escape outside the bedroom glass
where the building watches seasons pass

Teenagers sneak a smoke
and share the bud
exhaling futures thick as river mud

Old man in 3B tends the leafy row
talking to the plants
and making sure they grow

Tonight we drag the busted speaker out
taping down the wire
removing doubt

Neighbors lean on windows
mugs in hand
letting go of TV
looking at the land

Skyline shines just like a silent god
air tastes less like judgement
more like sod

Strum the chord with knee against the rail
burned out souls prevailing in the gale

We aren’t headlining
just climbing high
between the red brick
and the open sky

But when the chorus hits the heavy line
ten windows join the song
and make it shine

This is our fire escape hymn
sung off key
between the laundry lines
and satellites we see

We don’t ask for a deal
just a break in the fear
a moment where the wishes
ring out clear

If the city down below
wants the money and the back
it can wait
while we are singing on the rack

Mom from 2D leans upon the frame
baby on the hip
without a name

Teen from 5A adds a verse on math
voice shaking on the narrow path

Someone bangs a pot to keep the time
someone clapping rhythm to the rhyme
building vibrates with a sudden heat
courage rising from the concrete street

Landlord cannot charge for what we make
police can’t file a form for what we take
twenty strangers sharing one rough hook
living in the pages of the book

One day voices move and drift away
chased by rent and finding better pay
landing in a building new and strange
staring at the ladder and the range

But when they see the iron on the wall
they’ll hear the chorus
and the heavy call

Knowing they aren’t foolish for the song
singing is exactly
where they belong

Kill the speaker when the morning comes
wires coiled and quiet in the skins
back inside
the silence feels alright
carrying the music
of the night