Candy wrappers swirling like papery leaves,
polystyrene pinecones,
orange streets, red neon,
black-lipped girls with hair made of straw,
the rustle of traffic,
broken glass in a concrete cornfield,
the smell of old mushrooms.
Bottle held close in the cold hand of a troll.

—
Mark Gilbert is a published writer of short poetry and prose who was first inspired by Raymond Chandler and Jack Kerouac.