Dead End

Dead End
by Vincent Cooper

There was something pretty about the junkie
walking beside…asking for money
like a curiosity and a maniacal mood swing to join in and get wired
evading him to ride the Via bus
he walks away towards a corner market

I see a row of dead end streets
covered in faded murals of significant Mexicans
ice cream van driving by with circus happy sounds
heat rising from the streets
as barefooted pregnant woman yell at their stray children
old ladies pushing a grocery cart collecting soda and beer cans
tattooed men smoking Black n’ Milds, laced, and a polarizing stare
I walk into the bus thankful for the cool air and brief freedom

Staring out the window the view of broken down blue houses
a filthy German shepherd’s tongue laying helpless on the dirt swarmed with flies
a fifteen minute train stop, overheated cars, and a headache setting in
Feliz Navidad signs and Christmas lights in the middle of July
the smell of old humid death
This is how i remember it
This is how it is