The Pits (Death in the Streets)

There's death in streets
believe me
I've seen it.
On a walk to the grocery store
I saw it.
I went into the store
came back out
and there they were
spread out all over.
Two old gals
from the senior apartments across the street.
One was split in half
at the waist
the other was ripped open at the stomach
her insides
strewn about and ground into the black asphalt
like silly string, the night after a big party.
There were other pieces of the old gals too
something green and something brown
glossy and shining in the sun.
Reminded me of when my Dad and I
had gutted an elk.
Four people died in that spot
over a few years
until they finally
put in a crosswalk and a light.
In downtown Phoenix
I was out job hunting
and I saw a guy standing at the bus stop
across the street, where I was going to catch the bus.
He looked like Chris Farley
in that 'Da Bears' SNL sketch.
Moustache, blue blocker sun glasses, the whole getup.
By the time I got across the street
he was on his back
on the sidewalk
limbs all spread out.
People
3 or 4 of them
stood over him.
Someone was on their phone
calling 911.
The bench at the stop was empty, so I took a seat
watching everyone else panic.
I didn't bother standing over him too.
What was I gonna do?
Some bitch started shouting
"OH MY GOD! HE'S DYING! HE'S DYING!"
I stood up on the bench and looked over the shoulder's of everyone
down at the guy
while he took his last breaths
gasping in air
getting slower and slower
his jaw jerking up and down.
He died anyways
right there.
By the time the EMTs got there
he had been dead five minutes.
They tried to shut his eyes
but this wasn't a fucking movie
so they wouldn't close.
He lay fixed, just staring up into the sky.
My bus got there
while they were loading his body up.
For some reason
that one really got to me
more than the splattered old ladies even.
It just seemed so shitty to me.
Dying at the bus stop
taking your last breath
knowing that you never got anywhere.
That'd be the pits.