IN THE DARK
In the dark where the leaves of trees
block light and shadow,
cars sit near curbs.
I do not know either occupant or vehicle,
From my smoking place I see tail lights,
The less experienced keep a foot on the brake
while others sit in the darkness idling the motor.
All completing the trade
All completing the trade
while adding to the smog of darkness.
A scene repeated every night
as stranger’s cycle through for
their blow job,
A scene repeated every night
as stranger’s cycle through for
their blow job,
their heroin,
their lust for adrenalin;
their excitement of being in the slums
while cursing the law and occupants.
Constantly in prayer to a god of thrills
to let them safely escape
after they negotiate with the less than godly.
I feel the nervousness emanating
I feel the nervousness emanating
from the plastic and steel machines
as the deal is made,
the rush begun,
the ejaculation had,
the prayers answered one way or another.
I can feel the relief of the one true humanity
I can feel the relief of the one true humanity
as it drives away, back to a suburban home.
I feel nothing if that car by the curb
is there loitering when dawn breaks.
Strangers, left to cook off in a hot car,
a left over smell of whatever hot lust killed them.
The morning curb tells the whole truth of the journey.
I feel nothing if that car by the curb
is there loitering when dawn breaks.
Strangers, left to cook off in a hot car,
a left over smell of whatever hot lust killed them.
The morning curb tells the whole truth of the journey.
Bodies,
wrinkled tiny baggies,
sperm filled condoms,
garbage left for someone else.
Anyone so inclined to hide the night from the day.
Cleaning up though is not mandatory
and often not worth the effort
for tomorrow it will have to be done again.
Truth is that respect for another’s home
also is not an indispensable exercise.
© M Durfee
Truth is that respect for another’s home
also is not an indispensable exercise.
© M Durfee
5/21/18
Sure makes me appreciate my local gangs, the cardinals and blue jays in the backyard
ReplyDeleteWe have those same birds Charles but they seem to always have a dusty look to their feathers.
DeleteVery immediate and chilling scene, one I know being enacted in every urban and many rural communities these days--perhaps it always has been, but now the tide of these days carries a larger dose of flotsam to leave its plastic debris behind when it finishes its voyage on an infinite sea of self-destruction masked as self-indulgence. We onlookers can only walk on with a curse or a sigh...I have been through with the city for decades, but I do still remember Chicago, and even here, I see it in the unhealthy pallor of kids who have an urgent appointment at a meth lab.
ReplyDeleteJoy there is no escape, some places hide it better and others try to "lock it up." But the reality is that people have become selfish and in that selfishness fully self centered.
DeleteThat's why stay away from certain "parks" cuz there's no free parking there ... unless u pay one way or the other ... I know bout dat and so do ma kids ... @paulleanneandavan ... ya ... next generation is travellin ... sumwhere ... anyway ... U doin good, meowpoppa? Wishin you well this Spring, hmmm? Love, cat.
ReplyDeleteMeh I am NOT doing bad Meowmomma, ask me again in 6 weeks.
DeletePart of the problem is they ran the miscreants out of the parks, so they returned to the streets. There is no win found for anyone as long as peoples desires for self outweigh a common tendency for a good life.
Good beans, Wellington! Creepy, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Erik.
DeleteI’d like to believe these scenes are not viewed from your porch.....
ReplyDeleteAnother vivid and compelling poem, mark. You paint an underworld that even prim I knows alittle about. I can visualize the street in Springfield where my clients lived. I stayed away at night.
Hope you are well. I am (still) not but we both know i’m An optimist 😜
Love
kj
kj--Yes from my front porch, I could have tagged this "slum life" but that would take away from the reality. I am sure as a counselor you have seen the aftermaths from this self destruction, the lack of moral imperative.
DeleteYour health is a journey in which it best you find your own way in that then you will know what works for you.
Those scenes are all too common in too many places.
ReplyDeleteThe world hasn't changed much in that regard.
Truth, this typw of behavior is not now nor ever has been a simple Detroit specific.
DeleteThis is true, this happens daily, there and here... Humanity has become selfish and self-serving, respect for the other is a foreign concept, no, I do not expect a clean-up, after all, tomorrow night when they need 'it' again it will be dark and these are not their street, they do not see, they do not care....
ReplyDeleteShadow people tend to think "why here?" but you're right people are the same regardless of what cultural underbelly they live in and these are not their streets they are polluting. They DO NOT care a wit as long as they get what they want.
Delete