Rainbow in the grime

I crouched and saw it, bright as shame,

a slick of oil stretched thin—

rainbow colors trapped in black,

a flash of sick light on cracked concrete,

where the gutter spits out rain and dirt.

Beauty wrenched from dirt and grease,

shining where it never should,

a promise broken in the city’s gutter,

ugly and sharp and real.

That useless gleam made me want to hold it,

this colors-spill, this slip of shine

caught in a bad place,

a miracle folded wrong.