Nameless
I survived the cold, I survived the heat
I survived the infection eating at my feet
I survived days with no crumbs to eat
I can tell you the taste of bitter concrete
In the morning, in the night
I see a hundred passerby
A hundred eyes avert their sight
A hundred eyes judge my plight
I try to walk among the others
As if we were still brother-sisters
Not a diseased concoction of litter
Look at me beyond my blisters
Less love I know than a stray cat sees
More hurt I have than a stray cat feels
I stopped looking human when I stopped paying fees
I stopped feeling human when I begged on my knees
I survived the cold, I survived the heat
But I did not survive the night of June 13
Of three drunk men and their rage at me
Each blow to my bone, each crack on my ribs
Each word from their mouth, drew none from my lips
Myself, I felt fading. My soul, it was waiting
With a smile, I left, now no longer paining
The strays I fed, others on street,
The night sky with my secrets to keep,
They will move on, like currents in the sea.
The world moves on, but the stars will remember me.
To my unknown friend
In another world, maybe,
We would’ve hung out whole night, drinking until stars faded in the sky.
Heading home drunk, after few bar fights. Waking next morn groggy, black eyed.
Maybe we would’ve been out on sea, no destination or map guiding the way,
Like seagulls sailing the waters free, on beer and yachts we spend our pay
Maybe we would’ve found our place, together in this vast old world
Years of laughter carve on our face, wrinkles with mischievous swirls
Maybe the world would’ve been different, we wouldn’t be miles from home
Nameless men serving this Hell-sent stint, sentenced to die alone.
Sweaty and dusty, clothes stained with blood black. Bodies littered the floor
As I stood on my knees, hands behind back. Only one thought, my mind explored,
Maybe, you wouldn’t be standing there, gun pointing to my head.
Slight tremble in your heavy hands, voice quivered as you said,
“I wish instead of trading bullets, we could’ve traded liquor.”
In another world, maybe, you wouldn’t have pulled the trigger.