Desolate Alley

For too long I have remained bound
to melancholy's asylum
where my days of night fall, dreading
this life's solitary slum.

Here I rest my afflicted head,
while this eroded wall confines
the burdens I could not master
because my soul ends undefined.

This penumbra of my being
condenses swiftly, without halt
swallowing each ray of lamplight,
darkening on the black asphalt.

The cobblestones scrape my thin skin,
while its frost seeps into my heart.
I stretch my hand for a moment,
silently yearning to impart

my damned soul onto another.
The multitudes scurry by me
without a glance towards my face;
Their blinded souls will never see

me, dead and walking through their lies.
Their hypocrisy cannot free
my lone, departed soul drifting,
searching for the love they all breathe.