Eyes Down

The crowd slithers between the apartments

back and around and upon the road

to and from and for their jobs

a somber lull fills their breath

they need another chance

a second, a third, a fourth and fifth.

Woolen hats and cotton coats

do little against the brisk air

the way they frown, the way they laugh

with fake joy and faker truth.

Smog rides in the sky and hides the sun

a makeshift cloud, a bird not there.

Puddles strewn beneath their boots

water droplets jump from one to the next

never ceasing to exist nor large enough to notice

though always large enough

to drown their unsaid miseries.

Stains upon the battlefield

of poverty and starvation

children huddle with clattering teeth

they try to clean the mess.

A woman threatens a stealing child

the child steals for food

skin taught, pale and extracting heat

bones protrude and eyes are sunken.

A dream inside reality

insanity is sane

for in the cold swept streets

an old man whispers to himself

“O, beautiful death, come and revive me”