Tonight's Poet Corner: City With No Name

City With No Name
by Belinda Roddie

you've got only one suitcase
in the city with no name
all the beer is dirt cheap
and the whores look the same
they've got riddles on their skin
and whiskey on their breath
they're dragons with flagons
and they smell just like death

you sleep with one eye open
in the city with no name
you've learned all the rules
but you've never played the game
you thought life would be easier
on a grid just like this
but you stay in a hotel room
full of perfume and piss

you get drunk in the morning
by afternoon, you're wrecked
you've shuffled all your cards
in one big, lousy deck
you're beginning to wonder
what it's really all for
all the spiders on the ceiling
all the snakes on the floor

your hallucinations tell you
that she's worth fifty bucks
your new boss doesn't like you
but you give zero fucks
you like screaming at cars
that pass by miles below
and you do all your make-up
in the reflection of your window

and all the men go hunting
in the city with no name
smoking cigars full of gunpowder
and pretending for fame
and the ladies will tell you
that it's worth all the pain
for a quick glass of bourbon
and a gram of cocaine

and you somehow find comfort
in the city with no name
just like you, it's got history
but no minutes for shame
it works long hours for little
and finds fun in the halls
where the lights are all dim
and there are faces in the walls

and you never finished school
and you never said goodbye
to the fairweather friends
who wouldn't care if you died
and your parents keep emailing
wanting someone to blame
but you'll burn them out of memory
in the city with no name

and the smoke keeps on rising
and the sky turns to black
while the strangers on the corner
finish off another pack
you blend in with the crowds
for they all look the same
ever hungry for adventure
in the city with no name