Bicycle lights trickle in and out of ink black streets,
the corners patrolled by golden lions.
Monolith weaved from steel and glass gazes out,
by candle light a stone Buddha sits, and sits.
~~~
Metal hide dragons rattle through skeletal wracks,
screaming into wrought iron gorges. Sentinels,
in reflection witness the great urban yonder, where lights
unfurl, and unfurl along black tar streams, flowing to the centre.
~~~
The iron wind arcs around great glass peaks,
neon dragons flail and howl below concrete monoliths.
Valleys of steel and glass gaze out over the many
rivers of asphalt, each one ferrying a multitude
of colours in every direction but the centre.
Lights blaze, abstract repetition on street sides,
the dance barely noticed. Bicycles idle over
asphalt creeks, fish scales shimmering on
a hollow lake. The night drifts, and drifts
just like that.
~~~
First picture found here: http://kipplezone.tripod.com/
Second picture found here: http://wn.com/film_cement
Third picture found here: http://xda-wallpapers.com/Abstract/Other-HQ-Resolutions/The-lights-night-silhouettes
Still loving Blade Runner.
Golden Giraffes Riding Scarlet Flamingos Through The Desert of Forever 
very descriptive and inspiring that it takes me to a place i’ve never been..:)
Thank you for the comment.
Truth be told I’ve never been there either. But it’s mighty fun to imagine things.
I always do love the imagery in your poems, this is no exception- it’s kind of otherworldly. …’fish scales shimmering on a hollow lake’…that’s just fantastic. Also think the interspersed pictures really add to the effect here- wonderful reading experience.
Love the imagery!
you paint a great atmosphere here…like a sketch indeed..one that you can feel and see..love the images as well, esp. the train pic…awesome
nice…love the grit in this…it really sets the atmosphere of urbanality…some face lines…
iron wind arcs around great glass peaks,
neon dragons flail and howl below concrete monoliths
great descriptors….
Excellent cityscape/nightmare. Loved ‘The iron wind arcs around great glass peaks,’
Great descriptive piece…loved “Bicycles idle over
asphalt creeks, fish scales shimmering on
a hollow lake. The night drifts, and drifts
just like that.” …strong imagery & the pics are good, too!
“The iron wind arcs around great glass peaks,
neon dragons flail and howl below concrete monoliths.”…so perfect with the photos…gorgeous writing as always.
An alien , or an ayahuascero, describing the animate but strange spirits of an unknown city! Love the restlessness wirh punctuations of stillness.
“Rivers of asphalt” … that one really stuck out to me. There’s a lot of great images here – and I’m not just talking about the photos.
My mouth is agape … the metaphors in this poem … come and keep coming… Oh WOW! This poem is exquisite!
Like, Laura, I also enjoy this line the most: “The iron wind arcs around great glass peaks,” the description of the wind being iron is striking and unique.
I really enjoyed the presentation of intermingling your poetry with the photos!
outstanding imagery. I love this. And what a compliment of visuals. Very nicely done. Thanks
Mesmerizing images. But a city without a human face. Glass and stone, and bicycles with no mention of riders? Certainly fascinatingly strange…
you paint a great picture of a city, of city life, i like the bicycle lights bouncing up and down, they are weird as the riders bounce on the bumps at night…
Interesting vision, raw and urban, I can see why you like Blade Runner / “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”
Nicely done — loved your images and writes reflecting the rapid movements and sights unfolding in city landscapes!! Thanks!
Excellent urban poem. Very nice descriptions — lots of lights, colors, movements and textures of all the various elements of a city. Enjoyed this. đŸ™‚
Like much the way you take an ordinary bicycle and travel through a magical, mythical city. The imagry is gorgeous. Love it!
I like the short bursts of description, all tied together visually by similar objects, yet each one from a little different perspective. Very vivid.
Absolutely love the description and metaphor. Love even more how you’ve removed the sense of self from this poem and how the landscape interacts independent of human control, as if to say that it will long outlive us.
your imagery is superb, as ever. i especially like the first two couplets, and the stone Buddha sitting, and sitting…
Excellent imagery, felt the atmosphere – thanks for taking me there.
Anna :o]
You render the bustle of a city so beautiful … only a stone Buddha would sit and sit. Wow! I do love the way you have written this.
Perfect images to accompany the descriptions … or perhaps vice versa. Wonderful either way.
Your work never ceases to amaze me!
“City Sketches”, good imagery & imagination; you place your visions into your reader’s mind…
so sorry for my tardiness!- awesome wordage here! and again conjuring up that mettalic, postmodern, ‘Ridley Scott Esque’ cityscape- (prometheus? you seen it yet?)
loved the closing lines here
a hollow lake. The night drifts, and drifts
just like that.
left me with such a sense of mystery
Just like that…What a wonderful way to end a thought…just like that…
Also I wonder what the Buddha thinks just sitting there.
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Still loving Blade Runner… ALWAYS ~ Love this poem too! Some magnificent descriptions woven together in this dark, gritty yet wonderfully lit writing đŸ™‚
Urban dreamscape. Love it. Really enjoyed Quirina’s reading of the poem, too.
Fantastic piece…an urban painting with words. love the images you chose also.