A beggar walks on down
Pushing a shopping cart,
***** bottles ready,
Gonna drink tonight,
And the lady on the street corner,
heavy makeup, tight clothes,
Has her sight
Set on the dark,
Peering into the void
Waiting for headlights to approach,
Gonna make some money tonight
While a man stumbles
Beneath the neon lights,
Shops of the seedy kind,
Pawned gold watch and all,
Gonna get high tonight,
Last call on that Saturday,
A nameless bar,
Two drunks whisper in
Each others ears:
“come with me honey,
For a hell of a time”
And she laughs
In drunken delight,
Gonna have some fun tonight,
A child awakes
In complete fright,
Monsters, ghosts, ****** knives,
Crying to his papa’s arms,
Gonna be a long night,
A lonely fellow
Stands on a stool,
Noose necklace ‘round his neck
Last few tears run,
Gonna be a short night,
Two young women
Head home in the dark,
Tailed by a mad cat,
Hidden face in black coat,
Gonna have a feast tonight,
Dogs bark somewhere far,
Active, excited,
While neighbors complain,
Gonna sing tonight,
A gang approaches
A coinless man,
lost all betting,
He owes ‘em money
And he’ll pay in broken teeth,
Gonna be a ****** night,
Taxi driver smokes
Another pack,
Desperate for cash,
More customers who'll buy,
Gonna be a late night,
The cars honk everywhere,
The lights
always on,
That city never seems to sleep,
Every night:
New scenes,
New people,
New victims,
New fools,
Everyone trapped,
An endless loop
Where insanity feels right.

Funny.
I reread
1984
a couple
of months
ago and
now
I'm living
in it.

You shouldn't
let it
get you
down.

It isn't
true,
none of it.

Smile away
the darkness
of your days.

Know that
I've been
through it too

and I'll do
everything
to try
and help.

I'll be
by your side;
that's what friends
are for.

Winter,
like a blanket
on a small child
at bedtime,
slowly
covered the city
streets
and
the cold, silent
tune from
invisible
flutes
announced
the Seasons
coming
cradling them
to sleep.
"till Spring
calls for us
again"
sang
the naked trees