the big easy
is hard lives,
what gives
this rainy city
so sublime,
it's almost a pity
that streets are lined with piss
pests and rats in the alleyways
how did things get so shitty
or have they always been?
overpasses with people
lying underneath
so many homeless
it staggers the mind to think
bread bags and coffees
floating in the wake of the ferries
outnumbering 10 to 1
the loads that they carry
all the old growth
coming down
all the gold of their headpieces
tinfoil hats fashioned from crowns
no jazz or blues can save them
from the fate that waits
an engraving reading,
here lies what once was a haven