A Hustler Takes A Night Off by Akeith Walters

I sit
on a worn stoop

with a t-shirt draped on a bare shoulder, an
iron rail against my back,
a warm beer on the step,

and exhale
cigarette smoke.

It lifts from a twitch of lips,
a whisper calling
in a sweaty longing to touch your skin.

But all I can do is watch
as it drifts

five stories up
past the window

where lamplight silhouettes your rugged face
the way you silhouette my heart

while it beats out the moments
in the dark

waiting.



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