from lust to love

dear love,
i have officially replaced you
in this neighborhood where i hang in the gutters like hammocks
on this block where cars speed by blasting music written by me
behind these broken windows where fists are flung and bloody clothes are hung to dry.
the children see me alive and burning in their parents, watch the world implode
as i bloom from inside it like a thorny rose
as you are painted on the road run over by the cars whose drivers shoot bullets out the windows
and the kids let this image dissolve into them like cotton candy on their tongues
i conquer this neighborhood and they don't even know it
watch as these grown men put needle-guns up to their sadness, blow it all to pieces, 
and i flood their bodies with temporary tranquility, empty their veins, dampen their thoughts
i hang in the alleys, i lace these chemicals, i am a transaction, a distraction, a maladaption.
i try to govern these people but i must be doing something wrong
as even the children are unhappy, as every person is as broken as the windows.
i have officially replaced you
and i am sorry.
i could only dream of being a ruler as successful as you.
i have turned this haven into a place where nobody sleeps
where there are more bullets at night than stars
where kids chew tobacco like candy bars
where chaos dances in the lights and sirens of the police cars
and i am sorry for ruining what you created.

with a heavy heart,
lust.