flat on your back in the dark
wished for anywhere but it's known to you
you've spent the most valuable currency here

neon and natural outline the window
hissing and stepping into the unknown
there's an entire other world out there

but you've made your own here
and travel is risk without a guide
to tell which avenues to avoid

count the silhouettes and trace the lit letters
write your hopes in the fog your breath left
for fear will keep you from driving your fist into the night

you've made this place your prison
with the only visitors your walls
are they getting closer?

maybe before you find yourself crushed
you'll look out that familiar glass
and see something unfamiliar

the first shadow to stop and look up
to notice the one dark window in a wall of light
and to sense an illumination subdued by darkness

to draw you out from your cell and be your guide
over the gutters and through the alleyways
and to show you all you've hidden away