James Brown lies in state at the Apollo Theater

The green marker shows where I am; the red marker indicates the location of the Apollo Theater. So James Brown's funeral procession just passed by, and they have now taken his gold coffin out of the horse-drawn caisson and people who have been lined up since midnight are now starting to file past inside the Apollo.


The hearse is ahead,
But after there follows
A troop of streetwalkers
In wide flowered hats,
Leg-of-mutton sleeves,
And ankle-length dresses.

There is an air of great friendliness,
As if they were honouring
One they were fond of;
Some caper a few steps,
Skirts held skilfully
(Someone claps time),

And of great sadness also.
As they wend away
A voice is heard singing...

— Philip Larkin

Update: as I walked back afterwards on West 127th Street, I passed an old man at the 'bad' house on the block, who was hunkered down on the sidewalk taking a dump. I didn't really look too closely, but as I walked by, he said, "this shit is fucking killing me.”