Walk a mile

As Night Descends

She dares play her deepest game,
as dumpsters squat, tense and tough,
streetlights tremble, sick with shame,
shadows lengthen, dark and rough.

Forgotten crumpled papers
crudely blanket gritty ground.
Slithering pungent vapours
hiss, a faint whisper of sound.

She's clothed in tattered rags, but
she doesn't want my pity.
Scowling from the filth and smut,
this bruised and broken city.


ABAB rhyme schemee with same syllable count in each line. Written 10 March 2014.

Finalist in the 2014 round of "The Quills"  for Best Short Poem, Structured.
First place in the PDG Newbie Poetry Contest (April 2014).