Mill City Blues

Στον άγνωστο ναρκομανή

έξω που το εστιατόριο 'La diferencia' 

κάτω στην πόλη μου σήμμερα.

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Tucked away  

behind the 

fallen Great Mill's shadow

underneath the black 

blown out windows

the 

boarded up doors 

and  the twisted sheet metal

broken asphalt

staircases

dead animals

rebar

next to the hundreds of 

trash wooden chairs that were

wrecked as if a hurricane had

just barreled through

and below the vast halls where

rusted 

dead metal cotton loom machines lay

decaying  in the wet brick darkness

there 

tucked away  

behind 

this devastation

the city thought it fit to

build

a

drug rehab   Half-way house

where the old Mill Central Offices

used to be

this Half-way house today

just after lunchtime

opened its metal doors and

emptied its bowel into  the street

spilled a sewer full of

half alive whores

heroin junkies 

toothless tweekers

without eyebrows or 

human faces

down and outs 

dressed in 

dirty plaid and 

salvation army jeans

scurrying 

like roaches

and i was watching them 

from 'La Diferencia',

on a bar stool

overlooking the sidewalk

eating  fish tacos alone

then

a homeless junkie man stumbled in front of me and

pressed his grotesque face and 

lips against the glass

standing swaying

next to the boxed wisteria planter

touched his grease caked beard

wiped the  sweat off his

forehead with a ragged sleeve

his sunken 

glaucoma-blue eyes 

looked  

not at me  

looked straight at my 

delicious mexican food

then his mouth flapped οpen

tongue lolling

almost saying something

i was about to offer him a burrito

but he suddenly

forgot all about me

his facemeat turned grey and 

he collapsed  on the sidewalk 

nose first into dried up vomit and last night's urine 

next to trash, broken glass, half eaten Big Macs 

(his Life turned off 

Life cringed and fell silent for a moment

turning Her Head away

ashamed and

almost made up Her Mind 

not to return to him)

and this man lay

strung out

in front of the restaurant's

plastic bench

for ten minutes

then woke up

twitching violently

as if 

dancing to "La Diferencia's"  blaring 

reggaeton riffs

spittle dripping from his mouth 

the other zombies joined in

singing a bizarre meth  hallucination song

and suddenly he stood up 

leapt onto  the table like a King of

Fools

one boot lost in the gutter

the other clinging pitifully to his heel

his sick frame

bent over 

walking on the edge of the sidewalk like 

a high-wire circus man

or an aging crane

a man without hope

or a life

gyrating his rusty hips

growling and pawing 

clawing  at a devil only he can see

the other zombies cheered and laughed at him

He

grinned

Sat down exhausted like

an old man though

he can't be older than 30 

took off  his jacket

Reached into his shirt pocket

pulled out a bottle of Listerine  Mouthwash and

down  the throat it went

down like a green  poison  waterfall.

Then he looked at me again

i was done eating by now and i

smiled at him nervously

He stood in front of the glass

and showed me his  t-shirt  

turning around

flailing angry arms in the air

the t-shirt had a picture of a 

large

white

dump-truck in front and

advertised   

in bold letters

front and back

for all to see:

"USA  Waste Management  Inc.

Think Green.  Think Waste Management."