this decline from middle class
to a place less brightly lit
long days lost in narrow streets
between ancient bordered brick
to my cracked stucco walk up
climb those dark sooted stairs
hard steps I rise to view bleak
alleys lined with dirty dented
dumpsters spilling loose waste
boldly to vagrant pools of
homeless piss running gently
from crudely boarded doorways
where flies buzz and feed
on randomly aged excrement
and taco bell treats of spurted puke
I wipe the wonder of
whose used condom
there dangling from my
tired steel toed boot
resting now lifeless on
my welcome mat wanting
only for swift revival
at last, I'm here, home
at my torridly torpid room
bearably safe from this
last little patrolled lost corner
of enraged desperate city
after crackers and bread
I shower cold stained as
water drains past my ankles
I pull the cord and kill the
swaying light bulb clinging
from wire nuts to the cracked
and peeling damp ceiling
pulling back thin sheets I
lay my boots and body down
-dp-
3-21-15
