Tent City

Darkness walking
flames dance in iron
cylinders rising to the Gods
of the nocturnal. Gatherers hands raised
while mothers cry out in pain:
one shot, two hit, three hooked,
six raped, not just by the vile viper
but the system that protects
such apocalyptic ferals. Batman won't show
his mask in this part of Gotham.
Small tents house the lucky
while the harsh fight over the cardboard
cot. Cement pillows don't soften the blow the same
as a razor can. "No options" become real choices
when the chips are south of nothing. Hunger
steals, dope lies asleep until it screams out your
monogram. Food given then traded like an elementary school
lunch period. Except this time its adult trinkets that are traded.
Money, sex, character, dignity, integrity half price
after midnight. Seventy five percent off after 2 am. Fix gotta happen
like when a water pipe bursts in a house. They wouldn't know.
Ain't no water pipes in a tent. No neon campground. No KOA.
This is life. This is death.....next on the Channel Five news.