Orange seep

Rain slick on fire escape steps,

rust creeps like spilled blood beneath

peeling green paint—edges softened,

a quiet stain growing in slow betrayal.

A cat freezes mid-climb,

a stray and silent witness to decay,

pausing in the half-light

where metal bleeds orange,

and the city’s bones wear their scars openly.

The corrosion doesn’t ask for forgiveness,

just keeps spreading—steady and sure—

like memories left out in the rain,

until everything tastes like iron and rain.