The buildings are dilapidated, worn down and clapboard. Clumsy facades of shattered windows yield stairways littered with condoms and syringes. All of it is soaked to the bone in urine stench.
The classrooms are overcrowded, overflowing with puss. Teachers drone on while students pass out, heads nodding over desks. There is quickie sex in the grunting corridors.
The streets are cluttered with human debris. A corner stall has a clean needle distribution program. Buskers on sidewalks sing stories of bag ladies and broken dreams.
A man in rags spews torrents of vomit into a dented trash can. People rush past, clutching welfare checks and food stamps. The homeless shelter nearby is packed to the brim.
Hulking young men beg coins from business suits. Store clerks keep out the eagle eye on customers. A dead cat hangs by its tail from an awning.
A little girl sells apples from a cart and disappears into dark alleyways with strange men. A brave soul mounts a soapbox and is quickly brought down by a hail of stones.
Welcome to Stench City 2011. It could be your town. All you have to do is get out and look around.
Happy New Year.
