During the spring and early summer months one year,
a crazy old man hung around a small parking lot
on Pittsburgh's Southside.
Usually, he mumbled to himself.
Sometimes he shouted incomprehensible
insults and warnings of damnation
to random people that walked by.

The old man always wore a knit skullcap
and a Navy pea coat, as if he were shipping out to sea.
Below the waist, he strutted around in ladies capri pants
with a colorful flower print,
and his hairy feet bulged out of a pair
of red hot stripper pumps.

Apparently, that old man wanted to stay warm
while he played watchman over the city,
but nothing beat the power of ****.