Richard Schnap- A Poem

CHANGES

I used to dream of flames,
In broken bars under rust-colored skies,
Where women with cocaine smiles
And heroin eyes would be waiting
For someone to release them from themselves.

But now the fire has been smothered,
And the bars have become caffeine memories,
While the lost girls have either died
Or left town, or learned to forget
Whatever it was they didn’t want to know.