Member-only story
swinging hotspots
Darling I was born of sweet desire
At a French Tavern I once was hired
At hotels down on Darlinghurst
At Oxford Street, at Taylor Square
I once strutted the wicked mile
Contorted torment, wore a wry smile
Of these mean streets I was a child
Of Bethlehem I was not born
Yet Darlinghurst! …among the scorned
With no refrain, that walk of shame
Another age — another game
I saw you there, slicked back hair
Shoulder length and cold of stare
A dancer fair from near Times Square
Indeed it was…compared to there
You were a queen, to me a dream
Could’ve been straight from a movie scene
Of pimps and harlots, hoons and whores
And thieves not treated by applause
Roughhouse banter, two by fours
Crooked cops that knew the score
But alas, come thither there was the fall
Those glorious streets in times of old
It was your undoing, it was my toll
And those born pure and those in hell
And those in myth and legend’s lies
Those streets of history, once despised
