mp--afterclose

After Closing Time

Vacant strangers
lurch and buck
in politics of despair
compelled by
oracular prophecy
of futility

Filling the void
with helplessness
does not suffice
to quell the beast
slashing-eyed lurker
at the edge of darkness

Morning brings another
lost-shoe symbol
of blatant isolation
scents of failure
on hands and sheets
bristle-wet, a toothbrush mislaid.

© Deane P. Goodwin