n.i.m.b.u.s.

bleeding neon

clouds of xenon, clouds of argon
passive, stubborn, unreactive,
clouds of neon, clouds of krypton
unseen, obtuse and unattractive

yet they harbour great potential,
swiftly volatile they may well become,
with electric current influential,
they are auroral lights that softly hum.

buzzing, shining, blinking brightly,
lighting heaven's gates and Satan's maw,
burning signs reflecting sprightly,
across a rain-soaked pavement, asphalt shore.

the entrance to a strip joint,
supernova remnants, and Time square's lurid Greed,
decadence, now with with argon we anoint,
and all our dreams with neon bleed.