These Streets

Please beware of these streets.
And please be aware
of all their tricks and treats.

And don’t be scared to reach for more
than what’s at your feet.
Don’t learn what they teach,
don’t take what they hold,
these streets can be a leech on
each of our souls,
like bleach on our clothes—
leave holes that won’t close—
they reap but don’t sow,
they preach but don’t know.

And if you get too deep,
you’ll be a seed that won’t grow.
But if you make that leap
you’ll become a hero,
for all the people
down at the depot,
sittin’ front-row,
waitin’ for a bus that’s comin’
but don’t show.
For all the people runnin and runnin
but don’t go—
ANYWHERE EVER!

Plenty men sever their dreams whenever it seems
they’ll never achieve the better they need,
whatever believed would breathe Godspeed
into a life that breeds darkness!
The heartless beget the heartless
in an artless cycle
where the smartest only get the farthest
if their sharpness can cut through the harness
HOLDING ALL OF US BACK,
under a sky that looks starless and Black
as if it
were our
Reflection.