Chapter 5

* * * *

In trash strewn alleys

among litter and garbage

shadows drape cloaked forms

rustling awake with the night.

Battered, spurned, hidden

from prying eyes,

unfolding from blankets worn

through time and age and light.

Tonight, alone,

hidden together

sheltered in dark and hate.

* * * *

I ate air that summer

to keep you alive

while bird and bee rotted

you alone survived

if I had known then

all I know now

you would’ve been devoured

like those curling black clouds

* * * *she slips into my mind

razor sharp

dancing along the edge

of dream and reality

alien circuitry

the ghost in my machine

tripping alarms as she flits

through the echoes of my heart

* * * *

let me wipe your bloody feet

tired of their walking

let me soothe your parched tongue

tired of its talking

let me dry your crying eyes

weary of their seeing

let me heal your tortured soul

weary, tired of being

* * * *

It’s nights like these

I'm afraid to go outside

because I'm scared