A NIGHT IN DEVIL STREET

A NIGHT IN DEVIL STREET

A Poem by Dryford Chimutu
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Sexuality, minority rights and economic hardships.

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It’s late afternoon on a weekday of summer 
     1999 along the so-called Devil Street:
By dusk all the shops along this street 
     shall put up the shutters
     whilst the darkness-filled corridors with drones 
     shall swarm; queuing up for the makeshift hives. 
Peddlers in mini-wings at the doorways shall gesture
     and so, some hive-goers shall get lured
Halfway down the unlit boulevard, the street’s 
     grandest honeycomb shall spring to life
     whose insides the darkness shall fill
     and a reek of dirt and pollen linger. 
By mid-night those trees’ feet with used latex and 
     smoker’s butts shall get littered, 
     as if were infested with the apiarist's casualties
     that's a night in Devil Street 
In those apertures all the transoms 
     shall get boarded-up 
     and dim candle lights a hospital-like glow give
     another load shedding!  
A dozen gal-bees on those dirty benches 
     shall get seated
     whilst some solicitors nearby shall stand, 
     ogling them. 
An average rate of two and a half dollars 
     shall be levied;
     but the gals will be lucky if a fifth of the fee 
     they shall see 
     many in lifelong debt to the landlords and pimps 
     shall get trapped 
The hard truth of life in Devil Street 
     so hard!
A night in Devil Street.

© 2024 Dryford Chimutu


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Added on February 27, 2023
Last Updated on January 12, 2024