City Sketches (Poems)

Silvered mists roll in from the bay
streaks of star light buried in the fog,

boats left trailing in misted wakes. Pillars of
steel and glass snake into fog blighted highs, in

hazed airs the incessant swirl of abstracted neon
and the drift of amorphous street light.

Local drawls echo from side wind streets.
drowned out by the number 5 wail.

A red line lingers in the miasma.

~~~

A desolate back street inscribed with scribbled rainbow glyphs
enlivened only by the skitter of rat paws hustled

by cat claws. In cobble stills fermented rainwater resides
rippleless. Smoke rises from chimneys, neon flickers –

blue in green, red sequences to purple, gold blurs to black.
A car passes through, scraps fly from a back door.

Reflected in multiple miniature universes
in copy the world unfurls, and unfurls.

~~~

Under street lamps crowds mill around shop fronts,
push and pull in accordance with window displays.

Lightly bathed by the delicate tumbles of sheeted rain
the surge commences as I, unsighted – an urban recluse

returns to my notepad on the cafe table, scrambling down
poems, disappearing in the azure mists of steaming tea.

~~~

First picture found here: http://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Twilight-Time/A2E56D008AB9E045

Second picture found here: http://printingcanvas.co.uk/brooklin-back-street-p-42.html

Third picture found here: http://ppaintinga.com/paris-cafe-paintings/

Same as the Chinese style I’ve been working with, but with a different subject matter.

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