I saw a heart shaped oil stain last night
While walking home on Pike and Broadway
Like a loving queen perched
On her asphalt throne
She ruled the corner firmly
Like a mother to her child
Like a lover to a daydream
Or as magic tricks will rule a smile
She hid beneath a taxi as her
Neighbors screamed and fought
The Shell station was her kingdom
Her castle was the parking lot
She wondered if one day
She'd find a king to keep the drunks at bay
A gentle oil puddle
That would never wash away
She was born from an old engine
That had never really been maintained
A broken home beneath a hood
That leaked each time it rained
She hadn't met her parents
But she heard that they resided
An a sidewalk by a Texaco
On eastern Staten Island
They never lived to learn
That their daughter had become royalty
A hard working employee
Scrubbed their bodies to the street