This Way Going Down

This Way Going Down
By
T. I. Fraser

The floor, it was singing
To the woman from the street.
Her hair grabbed attention
Like the smell of her feet.

Her eyes burned dry
But she couldn't see to feel.
And the ears in her ringing
Didn't vote as real.

The lights swung from side to side
Unabated in their pattern.
As did the disco ball
And the heavy model of Saturn.

The record spun on the DJ's nail
Till it cracked without a sound.
Is this way going this way
Or is this way going down?

The dancer's clothes were out of breath
And the dancers out of style.
But higher class had made them gasp
And this other one was vile.

The vomit boiled inside their mouths.
The steam rose to the windows.
And the ground began to crumble
Inaudibly below.

The firemen were handsome
But stunned like all the rest.
And coming down the wall
Crawled the marshal's yellow vest.

The blackness of the ceiling
Dripped to the char mark on the ground.
Is this way going this way
Or is this way going down?

The police reports of all sorts
Had been incomprehensible to the chief.
Never was she characterized
As a killer or a thief.

The bouncers had tried to stop her
When she hadn't paid the cover.
And the men were all terrified
She was the ghost of some ex-lover.

The jig had stopped mid-jig
As did the flow of beer.
Such riff-raff were unwelcome
And their presence was severe.

And then the laughter subsided
And the ghetto blast came down.
Is this way going this way
Or is this way going down?

The clocks had stopped on 12:02.
The clickers didn't click.
People tapped their tap shoes
But it didn't do the trick.

Confetti floated down
And burned upon the skin.
The banner was unreadable.
The flames had done it in.

No one touched the trombone
That smoldered in the corner.
And the trumpeter was dead,
But nobody would mourn her.

And still the woman's body tensed.
And still the dogs would drown.
Is this way going this way
Or is this way going down?

The time was coming neigh
For a little explanation.
The crowd began to break their stance
And converge on her location.

She trembled scared, she chewed her lip,
Her knees were giving out.
With all the air swelled in her lungs
She gave one final shout.

The steel lightning that had
Ripped the place apart
Was consciously exploding
And the shrapnel pierced their hearts.

And never would the poor cry
When the rich were found downtown.
Is this way going this way
Or is this way going down?