twilight

phantom youth upon park benches they are loath to leave
costumed seedy scholars weighed heavy by drab vitality
hideous humanity left frigid by rank criticism

all breath can afford - heroin whores go without

surrounded by modern cannibals and techno-terminators
confused by the drama of urban irregularities in which they too perform
their sin of patience demands struggle

soon
above this plain and frugal scene
the moon stares
clouds piss darkly down upon this menagerie

one by one
then two by two
bodies thrust quietly into granite corpses
darkened halls vigorous and dense with moldering plaster
the muffled rummaging of rodents and feral cats' sick cries

thin translucent flesh
pocked by social disease, knife fights, and festering acne shivers under the burden and magnitude of this endurance
each grasp for purity returns thick multiplicity
bulging veins collapsing veins devour memories of prosperity
copious shots of whisky splash fickle warmth over ever burgeoning depression

oh phantom youth
such anemic souls
starving on their past