Urban Rodeo
looking back
at the streets I once knew
the slivering
concrete arms
of a past
dead lover
I miss it in my own
mad way
I miss the constant threat
of death
or rape
or worse
the living death
the wild dogs too tired and hot
to bark or fight
or move
even when the fleas
bit deep
the stars were brighter
the whores all knew me by name
and the world left me alone
to my drink
and my silence
and my desperation
I'll never forget it as
the place I put the pen
down only tired
and too exhausted to fight
I picked it up
trying to find my voice again
trying to get back to the
arms of the dead lover
