Sunday, September 2, 2012

Street Thoughts


the streets, lit by soft halogen glow
lined in apartments, houses,
old and new
the people march through their lives

the softly dim back alleys
empty and foreboding
trodden warily, even in daylight
it's like a hungry beast,
shadowy, waiting to snap you up

they're like capillaries, venules
taking and giving
people are the lifeblood
moving, moving, it's like an anthill

poison.
runs down the streets and thoroughfares
tracked on the shoes of countless beings
the wings of pidgeons beat a heavy staccato
counting steps and seconds,
heartbeats

the sea lingers here, by the shoreline
under the bridge, there are people
old or young
they're the poisoned, they're the beggars
hopeless masses

there's a shimmery dimness, collected on the sidewalks
a frosty dimness, a chilly, sparkling, dimness
it sets an ache to the bones
these thousands of footprints, phosphorescent in midnight
gleam wetly in the sea-mist

its raining here, and the rain is splashing a tune
the clouds are black below a sky that reflects
the colors of the universe
the rain is washing the sidewalks
washing the buildings and the passing cars

it will disappear with the dawn
it will leave behind the scent of old petrol and wet concrete
city scents
street thoughts


(c) 2012

2 comments:

  1. I missed your blog so much.

    I just went back and read like your last dozen poems. I love them all.

    This latest one is especially remarkable for me. I love your completely unexpected yet somehow always potent and accurate combinations of words.

    Your strange metaphor and similes and devices in your writing are so much more striking and somehow more true than the obvious metaphors, especially since we so readily dismiss metaphors we are expecting.

    You're a fantastic writer.

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    Replies
    1. and you are quite excellent at flattery! but thank you, as always. its nice to hear a kind word about one's work.

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