#OctPoWriMo Day 6

The Sum


a character in a corner,
eyes glazed
with big city sheen,

mind & body clogged,
smoke in his veins;
he appears in blinks
& flutters,
in shallow breaths

prices paid,
empty pockets
& callused hands,
in forgotten women,
in barren bassinets

a familiar foreign man
(because he’s the same
as every outsider that’s
‘only passing through’)
befriends the character
moments before
he fades away completely
into caricature

he’s exposed,
exploited, addled
& rattled,
& shoulder deep
in the murky pond
of the life
that exists on these
gritty streets

no pity for the
prideful shabby,
only fever dreams
of that lonely alley

the character
grows stone,
angry with
his life of wrath
& big bosses,
beaten constantly
for others’ losses
by a frenemy,
who surprisingly
was a new kind of
species, wearing
big boots &
pressed suits

linen & off white
tonight, maroon
as dawn,
crooning his
swan song
as the character
grabs hold of
his own story
& slits the throat
of the man who
disguised himself
in rescue

the character runs,
he has to,
he’ll always be running
as word spreads
of the death
of the master

you can see him
as a silhouette
on the horizon
at sunset

& when he senses
the dogs on his trail,
he runs faster


Note: I took a lot of inspiration for the prompt of “desire” today from Mira Nair’s 1988 film “Salaam Bombay!”.