Paterson, New Jersey

Had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down
When a cop pulled him over to the side of the road
Just like the time before and the time before that.
In Paterson that's just the way things go.
If you're black you might as well not show up on the street
'less you wanna draw the heat.


Timothy Herrick (TIMHRK@aol.com):

Ironically, Paterson is now mostly black and Hispanic, although I am sure
they can still draw the heat. It's the birthplace of Allen Ginsberg, and is
used quite extensively in his marvelous poem, Kaddish. It was also the home
of poet Williams Carlos Williams, whose book length poem Paterson is a great
work of modern poetry.

A city of northeast New Jersey at the falls of the Passaic River north of
Newark. It was founded in 1791 as an industrial settlement of the Society for
Establishing Useful Manufactures, chartered by Alexander Hamilton and others
to promote independent American enterprise. Population, 140,891. 

Expecting Rain