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

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

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