Darkened By Shadows

Darkened By Shadows by Speedy Johnson (edited by The Blade)

While on my travels I, in shadows,
Chanced upon The Drunken Boat
Celtic airs those maudlin fiddles
Loud garish dance
& arrhythmic banter
Envelop Old Man Passed Out
Facedown in smoke-filled bilge
An old tug boat by day
At night eternal watering hole of madness

While on my travels I
Chanced upon The Coliseum
Where I
And the masses
Fed on garbage
And blunted our minds’ eyes
The Senators in pristine raiment
Disdained our hungry rags
Stained with blood and tales of love
Sugar & Carnage
Prosaic amusement

While on my travels I,
Sneaking out of shadows
Chanced upon the Church of Christ
Bright, blue December
Little girls played and
Posed before my camera
Exchanging age for a moment’s gain
All morphed into ephemera
To grace the Earth but for a day
And float downstream away, away
From here, from here.