My City

Stale night air greets my lungs

Polluted silence fills my ears

The city sleeps as much as she ever does

With snores that drown cricket song

And nightlights fog star beams

She may not be my home of blood

But my home of youth she serves

Lessons written on her black and grey trails

Ballads sung in her daytime hum

She serves me more than I ever her

Though my pockets she does lighten

And sanity she sometimes shakes

She may never be my mother

And ner reach familiarity of friend

But she shall serve as my protector, my lord, my mistress

Until time comes to leave this land

To wherever manhood takes me