walking down he hill
towards 6th
i was mesmerized
by a pair of legs
that looked like
two trash bags
full of marshmallows and
sticks
they were attached to a woman
she was leaning against
a brick wall
head in an alcove

when i walked by
i looked in
because i’m nosey
and curious
(if i wasn’t
this poem would’ve
ended)
there was a dude in there
quickly zipping up a backpack

i kept walking
and down by the corner
at the bottom of the hill
was the bottom of a man
completely out of his pants
he was sort of laying on the
sidewalk
i saw a shoe and sock next to him
when i got close
i saw that he was barefoot
and had the needle of a
syringe
poked between his toes
he was motionless
i stopped to look at him
because he was a strange site

suddenly
trash legs was behind me
her face wasn’t as hard as
i thought it would be
it was quite soft and fat
she said to me
“don’t you have a quarter?
just 25 cents?
i’m 25 cents short for drugs
he needs a fix and i’m
a quarter short
and that asshole
won’t sell to me
unless i have that quarter”

i thought to myself
that drugs must be cheap
nowadays
but i didn’t have a quarter
or any change
i kept walking
when i was in the crosswalk
i realized that i had a couple bucks
in my wallet
but i was already
a half block away

when i came back
hours later
the guy with his ass out
was still laying
in the same position
in the exact same place
but trash legs chick
and her dealer
were nowhere to be found
i was gonna give the guy a dollar
but he seemed too out of it
and i didn’t want someone else
to grab it from him
so i stepped over him
and walked back up the hill

took a shower
made a cup of instant
and counted down the minutes
until sunset
when i could open my wine
and feel like a productive
member of
society

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