A breeze off the lake–petal-shaped
Luna-park effects avoid the teasing outline
Of where we would be if we were here.
Bombed out of our minds, I think
The way here is too close, too packed
With surges of feeling. It can’t be.
The wipeout occurs first at the center,
now around the edges. A big ugly one
With braces kicking the shit out of a smaller one
Who reaches for a platinum axe stamped excalibur:
Just jungles really. The daytime bars are
Packed but night has more meaning
In the pockets and side vents. I feel as though
Somebody had just brought me an equation.
I say, "I can’t answer this–I know
That it’s true, please, believe me,
I can see the proof, lofty, invisible
In the sky far above the striped awnings. I just see
That I want it to go on, without
Anybody’s getting hurt, and for the shuffling
To resume between me and my side of the night."
John Ashbery
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WOrth 6-5758. A&A Coffee Shop/Porto Rico Importing Company
 I happened to spot A&A Coffee (a.k.a. the Porto Rico Importing Company) on Thompson Street, and not only do I love their sign with its old school phone number (I said so to the cashier) but I also think the coffee was first-rate. I do not know how long this exact location has been a coffee shop but I could see how it would have been in business a long time, surviving against a Starbucks on every corner and other corporate manifestations of the timeless beverage. The place reminded me of the old Siberia Bar, which used to be inside a midtown subway station. According to the Telephone Exchange Name Project, the WO in A&A's old phone number probably stood for WOrth, but in these modern times the WO.6-5758 phone exchange number would be 212-966-5758.
Avignone Pharmacy/Chemists. CHelsea.2-3033
 The Avignone Pharmacy on 6th Avenue still prominently features its old school telephone number, which was CHelsea-2-3033. Today this much-liked independently-owned shop can be reached at 212-242-3033.
BAinbridge 9-4088. Magnasign of N.Y. Inc.
 I do not know where Magnasign of N.Y. Inc. was based, but it was probably the Bronx, where the BA in their phone number stood for BAinbridge.
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