the city of brown bricks
and asphalt paved walkways
lies between the great river
and the fields of red grapes
imposing with austere lines,
dust and smoke curl its brow
glass and steel, gold and silver
crowns its hair glossy and urbane
commuters traverse the lamposts
like busy sightless ants in a freeway
but for the musician who plays
violin in crowded subway for coins,
whilst a pedestrian ambles
along the edge of the trapeze wire,
i did not see, as the sun shaded
the skyline in taupe and muted salmon
Posted for : Imaginary Garden with Real Toads: Weekend Photo Challenge
and D'verse Poets Pub: Poetics - Undercurrents . Writing about a city since I spend most of my time working in the big city.
This has lovely cadence and flow, and the sepia tones of end of day are beautifully painted. K.
ReplyDeleteVery effective abstract writing, Grace. I like the subtle use of personification to bring the scene to life.
ReplyDeleteThe images stood out in relief for me.
ReplyDeletei love the musicians, playing in the subways and streets..for me they capture the heartbeat of a city and transfer it into melody to be heard and felt by the busy crowd.. love the glossy and urbane city hair when the sun makes the glass towers sparkle..
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Claudia. The musicians who play.. they are amazing to listen to :)
ReplyDeleteYou created a great picture. Loved the writing :)
Fits the picture to a T.
ReplyDeletelovely capture of the city...i love to visit her and all her textures...saw a few street musicians yesterday in DC...a man with a trumpet on one street...a sax man on the other...both blowing with passion...you capture well the textures of the city...nice personification as well...always great to see you at dverse grace...smiles.
ReplyDeleteKeen observer of city happenings, Grace! You brought typical city life out in the open and most can relate to these! Great!
ReplyDeleteHank
We miss so much beauty of life because we're so busy in its rat race trying to stay afloat.
ReplyDeleteA lovely, calming piece from you.
This chisels a very fine outline of what is seen and unseen. That line brongs to light who one is and who or what one is not.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you paint your city. Taupe and muted salmon sounds so mystifying.
ReplyDeleteEven the colors seem alive in this, and the shifting perspective suits both the pic and the urban landscape it is representing.
ReplyDeleteA tour of the city in colors...accompanied by music..I like this one a lot!
ReplyDeleteExcellent job interpreting the photo.
ReplyDeleteYou captured the great side of the city, nice to see for a visit, but living there gets on my nerves I swear..haha
ReplyDeleteI really love the last four lines.
ReplyDeleteA glorious interpretation of the photo. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI like how your poem expresses what the picture shows but also what it does not show. That's always fun... to use the picture to tell a story others would never think of without your words.
ReplyDelete"asphalt paved walkways" is a very clever line.
ReplyDeletebeautifully done.
ReplyDeleteVivid imagery, and I like that you included what you did not see.
ReplyDeleteLovely recreation of city life in all of its ebbs and flows.
ReplyDeletethank you for making my photo come alive
ReplyDeleteThis is great. It brought me there. I live near Chicago, so I can relate.
ReplyDeleteThe second and third stanzas I found particularly beautiful.
ReplyDelete"the skyline in taupe and muted salmon" —
ReplyDeleteJust perfect, Grace. It is very obvious you know cities, from the inside out. Well done.
K
A love poem to the city. Could not select a favorite stanza in this whole beauty.
ReplyDelete