Hell is a Crowded Place

By Ezra Godson (Inspired by Bukowski)

Afrobeats blast in a packed dance club
bartenders pour beer from tap to glass
as foam overflows—
laughter, banter, and chatter,
between girls and guys,
smiling at each other’s cheap pickup lines—
their bleached teeth glow in the blacklight

Twerking, twirling, Shaku, Shaku,
to the rhythm of a deafening beat
outside are queues of people

waiting at the gate—
married, single, underage sex slaves—
hell is a crowded place…

At the club, Chad met a chick named Holly

slipped her a Molly,
dragged her into an alley,

got off his jollies—
went to jail, joined a gang

tattooed his face,
got out on parole
then robbed a bank,

wrecked on the highway

in a high-speed chase.

courtroom justice?
his lawyer bailed him out at 8:00
hell is a crowded place…

Business degrees, shopping sprees, drop shipping,
feed the same top 10 companies,

the economic machine was not designed

For common people, dreamers

dream dreams as the hardworking cry themselves to sleep

Most women want to be boss bitches—
or live a soft life,
trad wife,
whatever trends are in—

Men marked like the beast, 666—
salary, height, abdominals ripped;
most schmucks can’t even dream of it,

so fuck off with those measurements!

Democrat, Republican, Independent—
they’re all high on the political fix,
a carousel of characters;
they’ve all read the script.

Escort girls on the campaign trail,

servicing mayors, councilmen, and senators—

coke on his dick, they give it a lick

the tongue ring always does the trick

Politicians go home to kiss their wives and kids

lead family prayer, ask God for grace,

to win the race—

hell is a crowded place…

Refugees flee third-world countries

Rolling the dice to live off welfare money

Unwelcomed by the nations that displaced them

ISIS, Boko Haram, the Taliban, and Hamas

C.I.A.-trained dogs unleashed to shatter peace

only to bite the hand that bred and fed them,

It’s a dark world full of dark times,
global wars and global crime,
So shout out loud and say it proud:
“Let’s nuke these motherfuckers now!”

Hell is a crowded place…