I am the child

who sits alone

on rooftops

feet dangling

to watch

the city

burn to ash

I am a heavy

hearted widow

awestruck and

bewildered by

New York City

boulevards

I am this

ancient world

crumbling at

the heels of

technology

my heartbeat

the echo

of a small dying

hummingbird

I am a cloudburst

in the distance

waiting silently

for rain

and you are

the drop

It’s on nights like this

the devil calls me home

with little pockets of stone

and electrical charges

face to face

with dead tones

my body embedded

in powdered pale

reflections of

mercury

blood

ice cold

and blue

It‘a on nights like this

withered and weary

I call to memory

black mirrors

tangled strings

a soul wind howling

and your coffin

collapsed upon sand

as I go on

aging and living

through this hell alone

It’a on nights like this

oceans become

hurricanes of doom

while lovers fall

intoxicated

by breath

and crescendo

ink turns to

ashes and soot

watered down

tattooed

and scattered

across this

dark universe

I started feeling sick as the Lincoln pulled into the alley. We finally made it to The Joint. Tommy opened the door and I slid out. “What’s with all these chickens?” The nausea faded away as I moved around a bit and I was suddenly starving. Vinnie turned off the engine, slammed the door and belted loudly, “I hear her name was Chloe.” Tommy cringed at the volume of Vinnie’s voice. “Shut the fuck up, please.” I looked at Vinnie and said, “Who the hell is Chloe?” He lit another cigarette,

“Jane Doe in the basement. I hear some voodoo king had her skull for a while and hexed a few fuckers before it was returned to the rest of her.”

I wiped the sweat starting to drip onto my dress. “I guess that explains the LuLu I saw in the corner down there.“

“Open the trunk.“