The Inescapable Lure of the Rabbit Hole

THE DUCK LADY OF CENTER CITY PHILADELPHIA She clings to her bags of ragsas she waddlesthrough the smelly-haze of another late rush-hour hustle.She wears a long-sleeved long white dressstained and featheredwith dirty layers of colored sweaterssafe on her body.The herd of suits silk ties leather shoes and designer attire steer around invisible boundariesthat define her space. She quacks at the passersby -- quack quackfuck off goodbyeand delights with her chomp into scraps of franks and friessnatched in a flash from a curbsidegift of some kids discarded lunch. Shadows grow as the days glow greets the evenings neon lights as she hauls her days booty to her secret nest - an abandoned piano box seated in perfect fit over a warm subway vent.