"If I were Street Commissioner," said Jimmy Bright to me, "I'd see that streets and avenues were named more fittingly. For instance, there is High Street, a name that should apply Where all the lordly salesmen are more than six feet high. And Congress Street should be the place where statesmen rendezvous, While nothing old should be allowed upon a street called New. The worthy name of Washington should nobly advertise A street of honest tradesmen where no one ever lies. I'd stay away from Cross Street, or, if I must go there, I'd carry so much patience that they'd rename it 'Fair.' The widest street I'd call Broadway, and add a law thereto, That no one ever should create a broader avenue. Fine dames with satin garments and manners quite ornate Should always hold receptions upon the street called State. The auctioneers and pawnbrokers Exchange Street ought to hold, And Water Street should be the place where stocks are bought and sold. The names of streets and facts of streets ought better to agree. They would, if I could name the streets," said Jimmy Bright to me. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SYMPATHETIC PORTRAIT OF A CHILD by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS HOLY THURSDAY, FR. SONGS OF INNOCENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE THE FAIREST THING IN MORTAL EYES by CHARLES D'ORLEANS ON THE SLAIN COLLEGIANS by HERMAN MELVILLE A SONNET. PLATONIC LOVE by PHILIP AYRES LINES TO HANNAH AND PHOEBE by BERNARD BARTON |