Lost on 11th Avenue

The light fails,
The cyclic long decline of dusk
Belongs to us again.
The ever neutral sun has gone
And calm calamity cradles the earth.

The darkness
In indifference ghosts in.
The cold and never-found are here,
Still clinging to unheeded hopes
That diminish and dissolve in these quiet nights.

How many
Hurt unheard in the hidden spaces?
The dishonored die daily,
Failing the deadly demands of life;
Those who cannot conform.

Stripped of safety,
Tears freeze on frightened faces,
Hunched alone in friendless places-
Yet feeling and being as you or me
Who have all yet nothing when we turn away.