Guttersnipe

Success is a bleeding orphan
Finding his way
Meandering in the ally
Catching rats like a disease.

Orphan roasts over an open flame
Skin and fur melt
White meat like chicken
Pulls apart like stiff leather.

Orphan sings a rich song
Stealing ale to drink
Stealing cloth to wrap his
Exposed Body.

Orphan writes a satirical lyric
And the neighbor plays a broken horn
The wavering lows are key
A tear runs like dysentery.

Orphan roots his way through human mystique
Throws things aside like useless trash
The soot settles in his skin
Dark stains on bright cotton.

Success is a bleeding orphan
New welts form and open
Cysts of a life wasted
He slowly turns black and withers away.