City Dreams
By: Nicole Haines
Number One
Surrounded by thousands
Yet isolated to myself
Amidst the towering citadels
I have faded into bustling society
Dead unto myself but breathing
the uniform breath
Heaving in and out monotonously
A million strangers joined to me.
Each step taken plods along
Following well trodden paths
Laid by shoes identical
And all encumbered.
then I step aside.
First one foot…then another.
Each step escapes with greater speed
And rapidly narrows the distance
Between where I am
and where man was meant to be…
When suddenly the noise fades into silence
Which reawakens yet again
As sounds of each existence at liberty
to fly…sing…grow…BE
Number Two
On the street
I've seen him
The Man who has nothing.
Did he sell them for riches
And the riches for fame
And the fame
For what
I don't know.
But it's nothing new.
And I see Her
She has no soul.
You could see the absence of it
In her eyes…
Cold…
Dead…
Not even enough life to fear.
Puddled blood on the sidewalk
Whispers
Evaporating quickly
In polluted air
And children's laughter
Like an angel's song
Wonder how long it can last?
The rich man
Who built his home
Atop some poor enslaved one's bones
Will die unfulfilled
Or live deadened.
The Boy
Who has to make his own mistakes
Lose everything
Dive into the mire
Nearly drown
And survive
But be forever stained.
The flowers every day
rest upon the stone cold grave
testifying to the fragility
frivolity
misconception of life
I walk in the midst of it all
I want to heal them
But am ambivalent
Knowing they in their maniacal apathy
Would not want help
And as I writhe in their self-willed pain
I wonder if sometimes that's how God feels.
Number Three
The warm soft dust nestles betwixt my toes
I lay on a bed of grass
and watch
As the sun returns from whence it came
and the moon is born anew
Whilst stars shine like angel's eyes
In the sea of night
And ever so softly
It envelops me, embraces me
Holds me tight.
I breathe deeply of the dewy air
Exhale the final remnants
of the city's soot
And safely lapse into a restful slumber
Knowing I am free.
