Stenches from take-out restaurants and people who should shower more often,
Looking up to the sky only when buildings pointed that way,
Crack heads and crazies and crooks eyes follow me as I pass,
Enter the building,
Behind the doors are bloody cut wrist,
And dirty needles and short white lines,
And yelling things like “shut up we’re tryna sleep in here!” and “How dare you talk back to me!”
Secrets drip down my walls from those who lived here before,
The floors are stained with “I’ve given up,” and “I’ll try again one more morning,”
This city stands so vain yet so tired,
Nail polish on little girls feet ready for what tomorrow will steal from them,
Feeling of satisfaction from the takers who thrive off of this city,
I’ve never been in a place with so many vibes and feelings,
And life and death,
Even when the temperature’s low the heat can be felt from the rain,
When rent is due today but the check bounced,
Or when it’s time to close up shop, forever,
So when I’m asked how was my first day here,
All I can say is: consumption,
They all nod because they know,
They know how it feels to be swallowed and spit out into a new reality,
Even when she is holding my hand mother cannot cradle me when I’m tired,
This city is dependent on independence,
Ten year old boys learn how to make money because they shut the lights off again,
Mom works three jobs to pay the bills so the streets raise him,
He wants to live in a penthouse on a tall building,
And only thinks there is one way to get there,
Teachers are apathetic because the school system is too,
A long line of “what’s the point” results in the decay of the system,
Lower graduation rates and higher incarceration rates,
Our people are treated like a terminal disease,
All of us plan on failing so why try to improve them,
They don’t know we all had different intentions,
But what the world has taught me is,
Life has a way of contradicting conjectures.