nightmare alley

[constantine]

i walk the alleys
nameless, dead ending
repositories of the discarded
empty cans, broken bottles
half-eaten meals
offerings
ambrosial sacrifices
to minor and deposed deities
the wolflings wail in feral appreciation
their padded footsteps, cautious
upon the black ice
i stalk my own memories
deep within the byzantine quarter
with alleys snaking into the underpass
spilling into the labyrinth
with sub-levels and cul de sacs
trench coat peddlers
swarthy and cunning
hawking
exotic hot flesh corruption
the sisters of a lesser past
tearless vague smiles
something's missing
as you hang a left-hand turn into
necrotic landscapes, city park badlands
with roving reaver packs that know you
by the scent on a first name basis
asking for a light or the time
as you blackout, blackjacked off
into a night of flickering incandescence
and half-gassed neon
big top revival
three-ringed preachers
speaking in tongues
a plastic concave bow-tied jesus
whose hypno-swirling eyes follow you
no matter where you go
no matter who you are
klaxon hosannahs - maudlin prayers
as you hide behind the fizzing
bubble bath baptismal, escaping
as they double-cross their hearts to god
things are not as they appear to be
but when was it any different
when was that a problem
another midnight in avignon
sharp-faced women
stares fixated, frozen caryatids
pillars of potential salt
to cure man's flesh
staving off the inexorable decay
that comes, in those
late and fleeting hours, that pass
from one night to another
like the secret handshake of gods
cunning, perpetual
their thunderous laugh
as the lightning strikes

[constantine]

did some revisions on this piece - original version in art log.

[Arcadia]

it sounds....crowded !, gracias for sharing it, costantine!!!

[zero_hero]

just my opinion but I liked the changes

reads better for me