There is always the allure

There is always the allure

Of evening

The warm breeze

Drifting through the trees

At midnight,

When the sky is as dark

As the mind of a demented spirit

Or a tech billionaire

Lighting a fire with a ‘C’ note,

Praying for greed to remain fashionable

Until it’s too late

To put the eggs back in the basket

Without breaking them.

The streets are awash

With broken capitalists

Still believing the lie

Pushing brooms.

Listening to all that jazz

Slipping out through

The basement jacks

In crawl-space dives

Selling skin and liquor

At knock-down prices.

The extortion lies in the dust

The blackmail

Is a given,

Political expediency.

Compassion is weakness

So they say

Healthcare is for the birds

And communists.

Animals get a much better deal

From the zealots and bigots

It is why the sky is as high as it is

Better to be viewed from afar.

Close up

Everything smells of cheap cologne

Sharp practice

And legal cannabis.

The illigal shit goes on behind

Closed doors

The stink of it carries over

Into the trees.

The green canopy

Home of free spirits

And hikers.

Living outdoors

Has its drawbacks

You are either a socialist

Or a bigot

Sometimes both.

Smelling the roses

Is not for the faint-hearted

But the whisper,

The faint aroma of freedom

The scent of it

Drifting on the breeze

Carries more hope

Than the tired ramblings

Of another demented autocrat

With a god complex

Spitting hogwash

Over the airwaves

Cultivitang promises.

Broken

Before they have a chance

To make a profit.