New parasite

The subway tunnels sigh
Damp air rushing up through oiled grates
Drawn from phlegmy pools
That fester beneath the streets

Avert your eyes and grit your teeth
This too shall pass
The gutters are packed with strangled souls
This too shall pass
The steel is melting, the mortar is crumbling
This too shall pass
My words will fade and these pages will rot
This too shall pass

My fingers trace tile walls
And caress the crass graffitos
That fill the pits and cracks
Like eczema crusting a scar

Avert your eyes and grit your teeth
This too shall pass
The gutters are packed with strangled souls
This too shall pass
The steel is melting, the mortar is crumbling
This too shall pass
My words will fade and these pages will rot
This too shall pass

Above, the world buzzes
Wires, fridges, flickering fixtures
Commercial jingles and radio chatter
Blaring klaxons and whispering mendicants

The city has fallen ill
Its foundations sink into muck

Avert your eyes and grit your teeth
This too shall pass
The gutters are packed with strangled souls
This too shall pass

And I crawl the streets
Gobbling its corrupted flesh
Even as it sickens me

Oh, how the angels kiss my senses
And how the fear shrouds my mind
As the beast dies all around me
I could not feel more alive