Sheltered by the garments of a neglected heart

She lies alone hugging a hope that dangles loose as the worn elastic of her panties

Shadows have become her protection

Dark allies and vacant porches her escape

Sounds of nocturnal scavengers sing lullabies in her ears

She clothes herself in a gown of broken dreams tailored by distorted images of prince charming

Her feet are no longer supported within designer leather and high heels

The soles of them reminders in each step of wounds which have yet to heal

Fumbling with fallen straps of her bra searching anything just to feel

Her bosom embraces the stench of her unwashed body

Sickness and poverty now her children suckling what’s left of her serene

Once upon a time daddy’s little princess

Now an undeserving homeless dethroned queen

 

Eric Ruff (c)2018