unpolished pennies

I am forgotten

beaten down, washed up, son of a bitch

my sunken face, of hollowed bones

teeth stained from years of cigarette smoke

this bitter cold of blasting heat

dreaming of freedom, these broken chains

cardboard signs from leftover pizza

a constant reminder of how my stomach groans

and my mind it aches from morning withdrawal

this daily struggle to mend

needle to the skin like needle to a broken record

of a song that no longer plays

but echoes the silence

I used to fear this silence of which now I cannot find

the reverberating footsteps and the sirens that fill it

the voices in my head that always argue

the same damn question

this quick high for a lasting low

have I lost my way

where is my soul

am I but a stone in a world full of gems?

unpolished and cast aside

the rose that grew from the crack

in the concrete next to where I rest my head

was smashed by the polished shoes as they passed by