In a secret place
you hide from the world
daring every week or so
to check the mail
or phone your one best friend___
in a secret place
you write out bad checks
and bad poetry
to pay for your transgressions
against your many old friends
and their good poetry___
In a secret place
you drink and inject cocktails
to keep yourself numbed
sipping the ice cold reality
shaken and stirred
with the partial truths
as your tongue dries
from the lies your belly ingest___
In a secret place
you waste away
as your fingers swell
and your two left feet ache
from the gout of Kings____
in a secret place
that smells like death
yellowed by jaundice
you slowly die
as the plague claims
another rat bitten by a fly
and the vultures infect themselves
over their spoiling meal
life in general is no big deal
we all will die to be replaced____
in a secret place
where only hollow men can feel
your pain or hear the defiance
in your choked and fading laugh
as you close your eyes in escape___
In a secret place
you feel safe
in your abounding faith
that none of us are really ever truly alone......

2007 © Ted Sheridan

Ted Sheridan

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/cockroaches-know-the-best-hiding-places/