Nocturnal Pawn
by Odin Roark

Storefront of tattered cloth
flaps with brine laden dust
circling shadows bid welcome
as candles alight clouds
evoking loathsome tears

lives extend on feasts of
doors once open
now but lingering entrails of smoke
dancing the dirge of funeral chatter

packaged sentinels of guideposts missed
parade before rushing gutter lanes
awash with midnight’s seduction
dissonance whispers one’s opera of chaos

sleep behind vaulted cages
holds fast the numbered combination
while memories claw at tags
and muted screams chorus the Frieze of Life

a toss
a turn
mere commas for dreams of soured aftertaste
searching yet another grainy claim check
pillowed deep beneath
nocturnal pawn