Otherness Poem by Craig Steiger

Ah the sweet aire of Otherness,
no matter how close & familiar,
the spotted ladybug manuevering
up my armhairs
as I leaf through the morning paper
remains strange & otherworldly,
taxi horns with distance in them,
who knowz?
what we're all doing thrown together here
willy-nilly on the fractured pavements,
shuttered by the shadow of a dozen pigeons
swinging across the marquee
of the art deco Del Oro theater,
say your prayers say the imams
or churchbells floating
over the crooked tombstones at St Patrick's,
say your prayers mi amigo
but you'll never get out alive