Mila Clarke Poems
Sundown City
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Sundown City
By
Mila Clarke
There's a 20 year old
Runaway child
Lying in the road.
She's smashed
Out of her head,
Giggling a stoner's laugh,
Mindless mirth
At a depressing site,
Till a smoker's cough
Hacks the laughter
From her throat.
Brain on another trip,
Abandoned empty shell;
She left her body
To rot from the inside out.
Stolen car swerves,
Just misses her face.
She must nurse
Crushed fingers and
Suffer another dawn.
Loser's son
Is at the wheel,
Trying to make motors
Into cash
And roll away
From this run down town
Where the
Only occupation is
Full time unemployment.
His childhood
Made him a
Six-year-old cynic
And his heart
Holds no hope for him now
So he hides in his
Dreamland;
A nightmare of mobsters
And gangs.
He'll wind up
A waster
Just like his
Loser old man.
Black high-heeled boots
And a too-small skirt
Leave a dingy
Damp cell flat,
The legs that wear them
Are carrying the body
To market.
Time to find her patch,
Set up her stall
Under the red light
And sell her love
To the lecherous
Business cars who
Bring with them,
The night.
She knows she's
Only worth
50 cents less
Than anyone will pay,
50 cents to get
Her baby to another day.
The honeys of
Hollywood hills
Look down on
Sunshine Street,
Watch the shadows
Lengthen from the
Mansion windows,
Blocking out the underworld.
The moon rises
On Sundown City,
Sunshine Street
Has lost its light.
Darkness can
Mask the filth
From the hills
But those who can't
Leave its stench behind
Can still feel it
Slip from their soles
As their souls climb the walls
To glimpse the sunset freedom.
Street lamps keep
Skin pale
And lives viewed in grey.
No rays to pierce the
Walls round Sundown City,
No ships leave port
At Sunstripped Bay.
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