Poetry – Cigarette butts and beer cans

Cigarette butts and beer cans

Grey paving slabs,
Cigarette butts in the cracks.
Daisies searching
For life
Among the boots and butts.

A worn brick wall.
A stunted tree;
Blackened, poking up,
Above.
Sorry
For existing.

Gobs of gum
Trodden
Into patterns,
Stains.

Dandelions and grass
Protruding,
Against the odds,
Against the wall.

The odour of decay.
The scent of poverty.
The whiff of neglect.
The rank overpowering curse of apathy.

Diesel fumes in the air.

A sodden poetry book
Discarded amongst the trash;
The dirt and litter.
Words
That will never be read –
Pointless –
Essence of real life
Amongst the decay.

A wizened bird
Cocks its head,
Surveys the scene,
In search of meaning,
Of a meal,
Among the beer cans,
Butts,
Discarded condoms
And underwear,
With no need
For Bukowski,
Or his acerbic commentary
On life,
Unless it attracts insects.

Opher 27.12.2017