Out of my element

a boy from the suburbs

I find myself with

no place to escape

in this ugly

urban landscape,

seceded from society

with drug-dealing

done on every corner

and prostitutes selling

their goods from behind

abandoned cars,

you can sense

being in the underbelly

of the city,

where screeching tires

of a black sedan

shatter the silence

coming to a dead stop

across the street

a tall stranger

in a brimmed hat

pulled over his eyes

collar pulled up

against the night

steps out to the curb

I can see the tip

of his cigarette

dancing in the dark

like a lightning bug,

with the sound

of each step he takes

thunder in the distant

quickly he closes in

following me

down deserted streets

I feel trapped

with no place to turn

I wake up

forever changed.