A City in Ruins

A CITY IN RUINS

It's past the witching hour,

As my lonely heart cruises, the silent streets of a sleeping city.

The muted barking of dogs can be heard and echoes the loneliness of my heart.

The garbage littering the streets is the detritus that is my life.

A curse hangs over me, 

The curse of karma!

The curse of deeds that cannot be undone.

The curse of the tears that I have caused,

The wrenching sobs still echo through the city alleys, imparting ill-will.

The city has no redeeming features at this hour,

It is just a shadowy landscape,

The shadows could be concealing grand structures,

Or like the landscape of my mediocre life could be a mass of nothingness.

The city has no tall buildings,

It has no great ruins,

It has no attraction for tourists,

It definitely attracts no settlers,

It is just a cesspool!

Is it why it feels familiar to me?

The city entrances no one,

The city has no refuge for anyone,

The city once had a beautiful garden, well nurtured by a loving heart,

The garden exists no more, it has languished,

Just like my Life.

The later the hour, the darker it gets,

This darkness holds no hope of a dawn,

This inky blackness shrouds the city,

The darkness swirls unmercifully,

It is slowly permeating my soul.

The only sign of life in this arena of destruction,

Is rodents and cannibals,

If I were to stop,

They would pick the flesh off of my bones,

Should I ward them off?

Or should I just submit to being ravaged, like this city.

There is a foul odor,

It emanates from the stultifying morass lining the streets,

The gutters are overflowing with decayed hopes and dreams,

Are these mine?

Or do they belong to ships that have passed in the night?

Is the city redeemable?

Even if no grand buildings are built here,

Even if there are no whistling fountains,

Even if the streets aren’t teeming with human life,

Could there just be some soothing greenery?

Could there just be a peaceful brook running through?

Could there be a small, neat, clean hut that would provide refuge?

Is there hope?

Or was it this city’s destiny to be a carcass?