Feral Poem by ann rta

Stray cat with scarlet mouth
haunting and prowling the night streets.

Shiny boots cling
to black stockings,
lurex top hugs
small breasts
padded to draw glances.

The car sidles up and the window slides down,
a shadowy form speaks as she bends to hear.
The bargain struck, she slithers inside
to be driven to a deserted byway
of silent warehouses and lockup garages.

A big man
a spiteful man
who crushes her
pinches her
thrusts in violently.

Her body moves with bored monotony
it's suffered worse and he'll soon be spent.
She craves only his money for the white powder
to lift her out of a squalid world to paradise,
so tomorrow she can forget today.

He pays and pushes her out.
Rubbish now,
like the cigarette butt
the broken bottle
the empty crisp bag.

Wearily, she returns to the hunting ground,
a still damp mist chills and numbs her aches
as the dim light shadows the face of a child
softening the harshness of a painted skin.
She enters the red haze of a known street and stops -

smooths her skirt
uplifts her breasts
tidies her hair
applies her lipstick
prepares to prey.

Stray cat with scarlet mouth
haunting and prowling the night streets.