The Cruel Urban Jungle

I open my sleep-ridden eyes
Shielding them from the annoying sunlight
I stretch my arm to the side
To grasp the hand of my wife
Like I did each heavenly morning
But instead I grab nothing
And realize that I had only recently divorced
I turn to my side, my heart leaps into my throat
The alarm clock glares at me
The red numbers, scary and deathly
I'm late!
I jump off the bed and fiery pain greets me
As the table bangs against my knee
Overcome by panic, sensing a blur
I blindly put on my suit
God, it was uncomfortable.
I hurry downstairs to the kitchen table
Shove the food down my throat
My son jabbers away, telling me that after work
I should play football with him but that was the least of my concerns
He tugs roughly at my shoulder to get my attention
And hot, sizzling coffee drops all over me
I scream out in agony
Overcome by rage, I yell at him
And with hurt in his eyes he slumps away
Kids, what good were they for anyways!?
I rush to the front door panting
And feel like I'm forgetting something
I can't understand why?
Until I realize it's my wife would wave me goodbye
From the front door
Now instead of her, dirt and rubbish lie on the porch.
I look into the car's mirror
And gape at it in horror
I could barely recognize my own face
Messy hair, blood-red eyes, skin deathly pale
I notice that I'm wearing different coloured socks
As I step hard on the pedal and hurry to work.

Fired bullets sink deep into my mind
At least that's what it feels like
Cars honk angrily at each other
People talking noisily to one another
Traffic jammed on the road
Refusing to move forward
My head slumps in frustration
Could it get any worse?
A loud thud
As two cars crash into each other
The drivers argue until one of them
Pounces on to the other, total mayhem
He's the one with the luxurious Porsche and he emerges victorious
As people separate them before it can get worse
Police arrive and arrest him
And yet on his face I see a grin
Well, whatever money he was going to be fined
I'm sure he wasn't going to mind.
The traffic jam refuses to subside
So I park the car on the road side
And decide to walk the rest of the way to work.
Scrambling through the forest of people takes sheer effort
Incidentally, I run into a friend of mine
Who waves at me, I wave back with a fake smile
He asks me how is life?
And I reply with lies
More lies, more lies, more lies
Until we bid each other goodbye.
As I continue walking I trip over something
A homeless man's trailing bony leg
Who wears bedraggled clothes on sickly pale skin
I angrily curse at him
And yet he doesn't show a hint of understanding
Staring ahead as if hypnotized by the working men and women that pass above him
He has that look in his eyes
Of someone who has given up on life.
I hear a scream from the road
Blood spilled all over
A cat run over by a car
Her leg torn apart
Meows painfully with short, stuttering yelps
But the people ignore her and don't help
There is still time to save her
Before she's finished off as a truck runs over.
''Dirty animals ruining our city''
Someone says standing beside me
As I dust off my suit
And rush towards work.

I drop my head on the desk, into a deep sea of papers
Bills, more bills, and forgotten reminders
I was late of course
And now fired by my boss.
I replay the moment in my head
How he'd roared at me, his face fiery red.
I gather all my stuff and head for the exit door
Looking back at my fellow employees who happily talk to each other
Only a few minutes ago they had sorry looks on their faces
Telling me that they understood my pain.
I sigh letting out all the frustration and agony
And make my way towards the hell that awaited me.





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