THE BLACK PANTHER CITY NIGHT

The black panther city night stalks,
Its vast black cold fur spreads out,
An ominous heavy shadow
Covering the city streets, and
Hiding within this cold dark hunts
The eyes and fangs of death,
Waiting to turn with stiletto
Teeth on the groggy drunk, or
The innocent lone stroller. The hot
Panther breath steams unexpectedly,
Surrounding its multi-colored neon-light eyes,
And all of a sudden its sharp jaws
Clamp you in the deadly steel grip
Of senseless angry violence, or
The junkie’s consciousless mugging
To feed the painful animal constantly
Gnawing inside him. Again the panther sits
Licks its lips, and waits silently
In dark anonymity along
City streets, until the sun
Of God releases it from its agony.

— Richard Hendricks

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Richard Hendricks, a New York City bartender and concesion-stand attendant in Broadway theaters, earned his BA in English Literature from Columbia University at age 54.

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THE PLAYING FIELD

I was driven off the playing field
By Ginsberg & pals.
I went quietly.
Benched.
Then everyone began writing.
Women were invited.
Not girls, but girls too.
We crowded the field.
Especially the young
But why not the old?
The about-to-die
Threw away their canes.
Here we are,
Filled with joy.

— Ruth Herschberger

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Ruth Herschberger’s Adam’s Rib (Pellegrini & Cuddahy, 1948) is one of the epochal (and first) books of the mid-20th-century women’s movement.

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