a penniless man

drunk and exhausted,
a penniless man wanders alone,
under a white autumn moon,
dark streets grind and hum,
made with metal and rock,
for metal and rubber,
pulling and bending,
twisting and groaning,
looking out at the busy lights,
tracers of red and orange and blue,
no phone,
no TV,
no warm bath,
no kiss from a sweet heart,
she left when the money left,
a game of illusion,
monuments made of lies,
collapsed like sugar castles,
in the frigid rains,

form protects itself,
grace transcends itself,


church-goers hustle to their cars to escape the rain,

drunk and exhausted,
a penniless man dances alone under a white autumn moon.