Through chaos pressed,
                                   unnamed and strange, they
                                   twist and wind through fate's
                                   dark mess—one false
                                   step past hope’s sweet range
                                   leaves their breath in futile
                                   duress.

                                                    Each fearful eye meets fearful
                                                    eye, in city's crowded space,
                                                    where wordless dread binds old
                                                    and young in poverty's
                                                    contempt.
     
                                   Subway money claims its toll
                                   from cheap labor migrants—the
                                   nightly shame of children
                                   barely fed. Meager wages forsake
                                   their promises, left empty or
                                   unsaid.

                                                     Night's peace they once held
                                                     sacred true till even their long
                                                     sought dreams withdrew.