Vegas Street Poetry Vol.2
A Startling Vision
A small boy
No older than five
Sitting alone
On the edge of the sidewalk
I wonder why
No one’s around
To offer him
Their defenses
The cries of the child
Echo in infinity
Yet the expression on his face
Is placid
We look at one another
With a second split for questioning
Realizing that we’re staring
Into our own reflection
Horrified by this
Twist of perception
With no memories present
For recollection
I violently shake
Myself awake
In a stream of cold sweat
Absorbed by the hotel mattress
Sitting up
Rubbing my head
I struggle to ring out my mind
Of this reoccurring nightmare
Violence
I keep my distance
From the violence
Of the intoxicated
Hostile environments
Make the crowds rowdy
Regardless of the terms violated
In my shell
I avoid the arrogance
To settle my irritation
Walking fast
Bumping the people I pass
Get me the fuck out of here
Promptly ignoring the vultures
Spitting out their profanities
Sirens scream for evacuation
As my fingernails dig inside of my fists
I fight to hide
All of the laughter inside
For the fools
Who face incarceration
I detain my reactions
I hope they’re satisfied
I’m the one who walks away
Slowly mastering evasion
Forgetting the faces
I’ve wasted countless hours
Studying that same intoxicated
Look on their faces
Holding my hand to the pages
Tracing the lines
Between my fingers
Another couple
Stumbling down the sidewalk
A mismatched pair
Far from where they came
I do my best
To hold my breath
With countless comments
Dancing on the tip of my tongue
They stop where they are
Contacting my eyes
For a brief moment
There’s a connection between us
A sense of belonging
As we are
Before my eyes can blink
They vanish before me
Into the night
Just another faceless pair
Swallowed by the city
Fists of the Enforcers
Birds of pray
Feast on the wounded
Stuck in the cracks
Of the sidewalk
Wrists are slapped
By uniformed scavengers
Releasing the grasp
Of their mousetraps
Court dates are ordered
As papers are sorted
Locations are pinpointed
On maps
Perfecting their needlework
Projecting authority
Assigning locations for their next traps
