Girl on Lake Street

A Poem

Photo by Maria Teneva on Unsplash

Johns come to this part of Lake Street to find

sex workers who’ll settle for the cost of a fix.

It’s colder and bleaker than usual

with this winter’s weak light and grungy snow banks,

separating the sidewalk from the road and

impatient drivers in cars that spit out mud and ice

as they charge through — or cruise restlessly.

Photo by Juha Lakaniemi on Unsplash

A girl walks, stumbling at times, on the hard-packed sidewalk.

Her skin-tight and thin, orange, green, and yellow patterned slacks

strike a pitifully poor defense against the cold; and self-interested men.

She passes with an unwavering, lenient smile

and a bright line of blood running from her nose to her mouth —

looking for all the world like things are as they should be.

I drive on, feeling saddened and shaken.

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

Join Medium with my referral link - Holly Biggins