I sat on a half-rotted wooden bench
on the cracked sidewalk
that lined the deserted street.
The only light came from
a slightly bent lamp post
that flickered every now and then.

Faintly, from one of the alleys
drifted a smoker's voice
humming a tune that
lamented loneliness and a hard life.

Leaning back I closed my
eyes and let the voice carry me away,
watching the light flickering every now and then
behind my eyelids.