for "meeting the bar" Symploce – the combined use of anaphora and epiphora

 

night is always blessed with regret

and blake street is quiet 

no traffic crashing into puddled potholes

steam vents breathing only smoky ghosts

alleys are quiet

storefronts are silent, sleep washing the windows

 

discarded newspapers are quiet

no wind pushing them into corners, no one mugging them for answers

horoscopes, weather reports, peace on earth

 

dumpsters are quiet, but thoughtful

a filthy history fermenting

lampshades, old sweaters, soup cans and beer bottles (bad novels)

((broken pencils))

plastic bags full of plastic scraps, soon dump trucks will come

take it all to rust farms

 

soon milk trucks will come

 

buses and trains will come

people will fill them with heavy shoes, warm coats, a shiny business 

caffeine static, morning panic and small talk

 

sunrise will come

and any object that casts a shadow will feel it

all daydreams will seek it and eat it 

apple raw

all visions, all missions

all real and doomed to live