hollywood junkie

just woke up to a sun settling in for sleep

          trying to remember last night

                  

i’m a hollywood junkie

          hung-over as shit

i still hit the weights

          and do an hour of cardio

 

have to look good

          in this hollywood nation

my ego is a creation

          of flickering screens and magazines

 

been thinking about a beer

          since halfway through my weight routine

the dark streets are calling my name

          though i’m not part of any local scene

 

i roam alone

silence my phone

take my flask to task

 

i want to touch but never ask

          all the ladies pass

                   my name is anonymous

 

a homeless man asks for change

          i take him to a taco stand

                   and buy a dozen tacos

we eat and sip from my flask

          our names are never asked

                   but we are called anonymous

 

i buy a couple of 40s

and we sit on the sidewalk

our backs pressed against a cold building

 

he tells me details

          about a woman he once knew

i stare at the shoes on the feet that pass

          and say nothing

 

the homeless man starts yelling at pedestrians

          for stepping on cracks

          something about their mothers’ backs

i light us each a cigarette

          hand him the rest of my 40

                   and walk away

 

and notice all the cracks

          on these dark streets of decay

 

***