the apartment was pitch black…no running water…bills had been skipped…a cat in the corner made noise all night long…howling in darkness…wanting for food an’ water…a cup of kindness was out of the question….no matter how loud she meowed…nothin’ was comin’ her way…

an’ a portable radio played jazz from ‘cross the river…in the night-time when skies were clear you could hear Trane…Miles…others comin’ over the Mississippi at 2 or 3 in the mornin’ as cigarette smoke rolled out from under her doorway…a whiskey voice sayin’…,shiiiiit….shiiiit….where i put my loosies….where i put my loosies…,coins in a can for a few more tomorrow…an’ the next day…an’ the next day….there was always another day…..

strange phone calls could be heard at all hours…., I do it for $50…that’s right…$50 an’ I’ll give you whatever it is you need…whatever it is you want….,she’d coo…., naw I come to you…I come to you….you mobile…we do it in your car…that cool with me…cool with me….,an’ ten minutes later the door would shut…the knob would turn ….an’ the cat would meow….

out into night…down to the corner to be picked-up by an SUV…a mini-van…an old Volvo falling down an’ down an’ down ….slummin’ in South St. Louis…, you got rubbers…no glove no love…,she’d tell the boys from the burbs who’d come into town for a little strange…somethin’ the wife wouldn’t dish -up….secrets…these secrets…a life-time kept in secrets…

an’ by the door that cat would wait….,meow…meow…meow…., goodnight kitty….goodnight…..til tomorrow…