In the shadows of a broken town Faces marred by sorrow's frown The streets whisper tales untold Of lives wrapped in misery's cold The boy with bottle in hand Innocence lost in a wasteland The girl, lost in her own despair A silent plea for someone to care Men peddling nature's remedy To numb the pain of reality An unforgiving cycle of vice Drowning in a paradise of lies A voice pierces through the night A fleeting moment of fright Beauty tainted by fear's cruel dance In a world bereft of chance In the dark alleys of the unknown Echoes of shattered dreams are sown Yet hope lingers in the air A fragile light beyond despair.