Cement City

Eviction Notice

The world flipped        inside out

When I was locked

                 Outside of my house.

My key and pleas were too weak

To break down the apathy bought

By preconceived greed--

The hand that signed the piece of paper

                 Without a thought for others.

What had been the skin between

Myself and the masses

                 My dream

Dissolved into spare change, fast food, shelters and cold nights.

I slept under the rags of my eviction notice

Shame and pride sewn into a messy patchwork

                 Of my life.

Like mortar mixture

The city and I

                 Became each other's hidden side.

My home was the world

Too big for my grasp

The streets were my arteries

Strangers' kindness, I held onto fast

Sometimes they spread and grew wings too high for me to catch.

I couldn't tell whose fault it was

Where the lines blurred from                     chance to choice

                  Both were grey and both were far

Away from my baseless hope

Of golden days

                 Without the work.