Searching For Pennies

Cob webs from the city sticks to skin as you pass through its strings Travelers sees shadows of empty enemies standing on corners where hustlers and men in wigs wearing worn out heels sell there wares Taxis pass, moving swiftly wet streets cause their tires to hum Food carts singe carbon fueled air Old men linger by drugstores smoking and coughing searching for pennies, dropped by those in a hurry Prisoners of bad choices their fingers broken by what could have been their anguish leaving footprints upon footprints on the cold cracked sidewalks of dark an empty A street lamp burst, a rock thrown in anger noises mumbled from alleys filled with garbage part of a neon sign flashes from a bar where shoulders and backs lean against a wall covered in painted illusions of human screams no one sees, no one hears only the blind are allowed to pass faces burned by their disguise, tightly worn trying not to be noticed before night falls 5/18/17 contest Springtime Premium