that hot night
when we sat
so close together
tucked away
from gazing eyes
that dark theatre
kissing in the back row  
everyone wants to be
a fabled character
from an epic movie
wake up in fantasy
portray delectable scenes
cross sequestered lines
versions of some fairytale
you're the saviour
bits of darling chapters
romancing true lies
each and everyone daring
wearing make-up as disguise
dreams of crystal palaces
cloaked in mind games
those young and dashing princes
while others dwell on mean streets
littered in big city trash
curbs with frittered addicts
slumped and crumpled statues
turning tricks for cash
figments of mouse and pumpkin
stardust Cinderella segments
dancing at the palace ball
prancing demons from Luna Park
jabbing shared needles
rats chewing on night terrors
skewering reluctant veins
those harried sidewalk Cinderellas
if it's not Soho in dirty London
or cursed Kensington avenue
airing soiled jeans and ragged skirts
in Ben Franklin's pretty Philly
then it's another yellow brick road
buried beneath every rainbow
discarded heaps of bitter
all those tattooed princes
ejected plastic in littered streets
underdressed rejected princesses
betrothed to fentanyl and cocaine
what drugs won't steal away
frayed alley frills
some magic virus comes to play
pills parallel every addict's will
society only likes winners
chill like Sideburn and Crocket
crank coursing through so many veins
make believe folk and fairy tales
lured by stunning nightmares
factoring one dimension
two dimensional
three dimensions
shunning four
some lift a punitive glass
others shift mud for pies
sift gravel for truth
always mixing ruddy lies
slight of hand for tens and twenties
civilization's lack of cement
still graffiti paints over reality
fixed battlefield medicine
weak mortar in times of trouble
so many victims of crocodile desire
giraffe and hippo street people
sticking pins into voodoo dolls
searching to find every cobra vein
when aspen night comes
just another streetlight pigment
waiting for leafy daytime
ascending another mountain of grief
little relief for addicts lowing
descending cities full of failure
bowing down to grime
poverty marred by crime
sour kisses caressed by time
sure devastation as god exists
touring with that wounding god
forlorn eyes staring out of every face
can't resist Kensington avenue
god could not care less in Soho
disgrace in every artificial place
boardwalk crack and revenue
all those sidewalk crystal palaces
simmering with fright
shimmering with imagined freedom
mighty salvation just out of reach
screeching at the morning sun
all that plight oxycontin preaches
riding perilous waves
trekking social dunes
beyond every desert mirage
seeking truth and light
all those forgotten promises
further out of tune
sheep jumping over the moon
spilled rose water and honey
so much love in the sewer
tainted jade and money
life's heartless prank
newer still
every newbie bluer
more dank into stank
Frank and James and Shelly-Ann
happy dreams are fewer
crappy in frank reality man
delusional paranoia is actuality
remarkably those that can
mark those that will
is it hope that makes us human
but where is hope
can hope be proven
every feared dark night
slumped and muddled together
featuring all those crazy eyes
huddled and tucked away
suction in that dark street theatre
kissing pavement and living lies

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