Together
we wondered
if it would be quite right
to slake our thirst
on the city skyline
or perhaps
drink in the grit and grime
running in rivers of decay over
my grubby feet and your designer heels
There is a dumpster telling stories to vagrants
snippets of lives and businesses
secreted in the chipped blue painted walls
it spits out stale pizza
and the clues to a murder
with equal ambivalence
The coughing of the street
interrupts and annoys
cars
choking on themselves
trucks
trundling into the earth
moving shaking
making the sound of the street
a deep resonating bass throb
Passersby share nothing
but little bits of the world
Cantonese slipping seamlessly
into the contralto hum of
Italian as converstations come to us
caress us, then move away
to cafe's and cars
to stores with doors agape
begging and luring in
wide open sultry invitation
We settle on rickety wooden seats
made for small bottoms
you look at all the thighs
spilling over the sides
as the coffee arrives
cold
sugary
served with disdain
the pencil thin gay waiter
glances perfunctorarily
at my crotch
force of habit
rather than genuine interest
We become the blur
another splash of colour
thrown against rough brick walls
seeping into the mortar
joining the riot
the cacophony
The skyline dips down
falling into our open mouths
how
deeply deeply
we do drink
5 comments:
This is wonderful. You really do have an absolute talent for capturing modern cityscapes in a fresh and insightful way. I always feel myself right there on the street amongst the towering buildings and molten rivers of traffic.
I think it's one of your best talents, alongside a wonderful narrative ability that I envy. It's very hard to write a good narrative and still have it be poetry. You always make it look effortless.
Wow...this is possibly one of the nicest comments you have ever made to me mate *hugs*
Thank you so much, when I am in the right frame of mind, I do love to explore the city and its denizens, usually, I keep myself too distant, but occasionally, the desire to immerse and breathe it in becomes enough to let me write about it *smile*
made my day you did :)
good :)
I don't mean to blow my own trumpet here, to you of all people, but you should pay attention to what I say about your poems. I know what I'm talking about :) especially when I'm looking at other people's writing.
There are lots of uneducated blowhards out there in the world who talk about poetry and writing. I think a lot of them do more harm than good and are more interested in puffing themselves up than they are in the writing, quality of writing, vision of the poet as an artist, or in the commentary on contemporary society which good literary writing should produce.
Good writing should be a product of the individual producing it, and should be representative of their life and the world they live in, their opinions and thoughts about it, and the trends and influences on art and writing in their lifetime. This is the purpose of literature, and this is the reason people study literature and the literary canon.
Your writing is exemplary of most of these things and provides the reader with an authentic experience of city life as it is in your lifetime in Australia and globally. As such it is as valuable as any writing can be. That you do it with a unique voice and style is a nice bonus.
So there. That is my pompous soap box for today. I will now climb down and go and see about tea. Lol.
Keep all this in mind though aye?
but you should pay attention to what I say about your poems.
I always do my friend
Yes, I know what I write has a place in the current writing world, and your regard for what I write is beyond appreciated, I am making a concerted effort to get back into some sort of consistent writing at the moment, so I am going to try some poetic blogs that offer challenges etc so you may see some of those pop up on here , don't be alarmed lol.
My soul needs to get back to the words, and I am trying to do that :)
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