The Rot

Cries of the have-nots

Along the road that joins the walls,
I sit alone and watch them all.
Rotten people with rotten chores,
Wearing mask-like smiles in empty stores.

Babies coo ‘midst sorrowful wails,
Hollow and stale beneath the veil.
Triumph and praise flank dark decay,
And yet we stay,
Sit still and pray.

Broken shells and tattered dreams,
Oblivion lives between the seams.
A sun that smiles as dark clouds weep,
A world that stirs, yet cannot sleep.

When bitter hopes had turned to ash,
‘Neath bleeding skies that would not pass,
I heard a man begin to laugh,
Among the boats, where children sang:

“This rotten town, these rotten streets
Where we all walk with rotting feet.
Unaware, but we can see
Just how rotten it all is.”