Manic
       

the fire escape cat calls
        with her cherry limbs
the window frames three men
        on the corner in holla-back
red bandanas

the radio dial scratches
        to a jumpin' Gershwin tune
& I lose time remembering. . .
        the metallic taste of blood,
a head submerged under water,

silence folds, the walls close in
        everything trembles
I stare down twelve stories
        & imagine thirteen
bad endings.

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Copyright © 2015 Abdul Ali All rights reserved
from Trouble Sleeping
New Issues Poetry & Prose
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission