livin' the blues

 
 
the night passes slow, like it was stalled.
scared, maybe.
 
you doped away the nickel bag you stole
from an old woman, so you hit the bottle.
after a few shots, it hits back.
 
Cinderella was a one-night stand. the glass
slipper broke & left splinters in her foot.
shanghaied sailors whistle at her limp.
 
your last silver dollar leaked away
in an alley with your last blow job.
 
somewhere the sky holds a flush in diamonds,
the sea is calm & a lemon drop wind blows,
but you’re ridin’ the rails with the ‘bo’s –
it’s a round-trip run to hell & back
but you got a one-way ticket…
 
the pulsating neon that invades your 6th floor window
is a ‘last chance’ sign & your bed is a lonely island, the
tropical sheets dredge up lobotomized memories of a
ginger-haired girl but you can’t make love to a shadow.
 
you’re a dead man who ain’t got a grave to fall into
or a bullet to swallow & you’re livin’ the blues...