Summer in the City
SUMMER IN THE CITY
Snapshot of the city in summer -
when new lies are being written
and the old falsehoods are displayed
in blinking neon.
Taxi grills snarl in boomerang sunshine
while the fetid breath of the subway exhales.
Sun baked sidewalks give up the ghosts
of piss and dogshit,
winos stripped to the barest strata of sartorial sense
they can manage while still scrounging a buck,
and dun-colored roaches conducting the business of filth
while pot-bellied rats cloak and dagger
through the shadows.
Even the pigeons look like
they have been dipped in kerosene
and blow-dried.
And the people -
frayed wants and stirred tempers,
day-glo hookers smack-wretching into trash cans,
manicured villains searching for prey,
the payrolled in summer-weight wool
barking into earpieces, careful not to spill the latte;
clocks that don't need winding,
the punks, the pukes, the Christian porn starlets,
drivers and dealers and dangerous dudes,
each one looking to step one up
on the next one.
Is this the result of evolution,
the white and the brown and the black or the yellow,
each searching for restoration
on the corpse of the one beside him?
Is this the best that we can manage?
What would we have left if we stripped away
the greed,
the self-absorption,
the politics,
and the derision of those we have wronged?
Would we would have pastures,
floral scents and
bucolic overtures,
would we would have it all?
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Shared with DVerse Poets as an example of a "Beat" poem.
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©2014 Christopher Reilley
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WOW! After the reality check listing all that is so dismaying Out There, your question "Is this the best that we can manage?" really hits home. It is what I feel all the time, because I know so many beautiful wonderful people, KNOW what humans are capable of and just wish the ones causing so much trouble were not in apparent ascendance these days. Perhaps Mother Earth will force us back to the time when we HAD to learn to live in harmony with the earth. I would love to see that, but will not live long enough to. Hold that vision for me.
ReplyDeleteI love the garish neon flare of your imagery, and the poignancy of your final question...
ReplyDeleteI do have to disagree that this is all the city is. That said, a city magnifies the greed and the thoughtlessness that pervades our culture in many ways, due to the concentration of humans, who are responsible for the world's ills. Which you have vividly portrayed.
ReplyDeleteTwo thought provoking questions in the well thought out piece. I wonder if we will ever know the wonder of it all?
ReplyDeleteThe world is getting to resemble more and more a set from Blade Runner. Yours in no exception.
ReplyDeleteI really love the way you describe the city with all those revolting scents with the modern day slaves of latte and summer weight wool tiptoe around it for a payroll that binds them to gilded condos, the city is a beast.
ReplyDeleteThis is incredibly dark and powerful! I am especially struck by the image; "Even the pigeons look like they have been dipped in kerosene and blow-dried." Thank you so much for adding your voice to the prompt! 💘💘
ReplyDeleteI would have been satisfied with just the opening stanza, Chris, but hey, I’m happy to binge on it all! So many powerful line in this poem, it’s hard to pick one or two out. I do love the sharpness of:
ReplyDelete‘Taxi grills snarl in boomerang sunshine
while the fetid breath of the subway exhales.
Sun baked sidewalks give up the ghosts
of piss and dogshit…’
and
‘Even the pigeons look like
they have been dipped in kerosene
and blow-dried.’
I wish I could answer the questions.
"What would we have left if we stripped away
ReplyDeletethe greed,
the self-absorption,
the politics,
and the derision of those we have wronged?"
The perfect homework contemplation Christopher
Much❤love
I would rather have the last stanza, thank you.
ReplyDeletei love how bruised and burnt the descriptions are. and these lines: Even the pigeons look like
ReplyDeletethey have been dipped in kerosene
and blow-dried.
that is a bruiser of a poem really hits at the heart of how we are. the modern version of us sucks.
ReplyDeleteA very raw and powerful response. Very thought provoking too.
ReplyDeleteLove the abrasive look at the city life. No wonder we are all bruised.
ReplyDeleteWow! Powerhouse poem. You had me at that first stanza. Here's a section
ReplyDeleteI loved:
"winos stripped to the barest strata of sartorial sense
they can manage while still scrounging a buck,"