August 2, 2024Poem

It’s a dog’s life.

naturecitymusicpoliticstimemortality

It’s a dog’s life.

A long dog night

Digging for bones

Howling at the moon

Chasing nightmares

Through wet streets

Where sodium lights

Fizz in warning

Dark shadows lean in

From the cold

Leeching the heat

And children peep

From bedroom windows

Frightened by stories

Heard before they

Were left all alone

Tall buildings grow out of the earth

Crazy shapes

Scream their worth

But rarely satisfy

A need for completion

The stars above

Disappear

Blinking out when you get near

Alley cats squeal

In the darkness

It sounds just like a baby

Wherever you go

There is fear

You look for your family

But they evanesce

Whenever you are close

Enough to touch

What is familiar.

You are a stranger

Kicking at the traces

Roughly hewn faces

Scarily sketched

Grasping at straws

Cowed by the weight

Of the billowing sky

Until the morning comes

Disguised as a hotbed

Of activity

Packaged mentalities

Lead by the nose

Into another day

Of discovery

And illusion.