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Tuesday, August 6, 2013

CONFLUENCE



“When you're travelling, the best advice is
 likely to come from a local person.”-F.Mawer

In Pittsburgh, even the bridges are yellow.
Should’ve painted a few green or blue.
If you end up getting on the wrong bridge,
you’ll probably end up being lost for hours.

In Pittsburgh, they roll with the black and gold.
And things come in threes like Pitt’s flag with
three castles, three rivers, that I always misspell,
and three stars on one side of a Steelers helmet.

In Pittsburgh, be sure to ride the inclines,
they’ll take you up to another neighborhood
make you think how beautiful it must look
at night- the city, the bridges, the confluence.

In Pittsburgh, you must have Iron City beer,
get a Primanti Brothers sandwich, hamburger
drenched in Heinz ketchup on thick, soft bread.
They put the cole slaw and fries on the inside.

In Pittsburgh, you should try to visit Oakland,
stop at the Cathedral of Learning, get a key
to see the classrooms from around the world.
Take a picture with a statue of the panther.

In Pittburgh, you have to go to a ball game,
monuments for Clemente, Stargell, Mazerawski.
The old fans still sing, “We Are Family” and they’ll
tell you all about living in the City of Champions.

In Pittsburgh, get to the Southside, tattoo parlors
and bars line Carson Street- but don’t stay too long
or have too many beers, or you’ll begin to think of
how perfect a yellow P would look on your forearm.

1 comment:

Joanne Young Elliott said...

I haven't been to Pittsburgh, but this poem gives me a good sense of it. Thanks for the tour!