Night in the City

A reflection of the sounds of the city and the sounds of nature, night-time in my city, against the backdrop of our times.

Morning doves and flinches have flown,
Rabbits to their hideaways,
Foxes back in their holes,
Humans to their bedrooms.
What remains now is the noise of the night-city:
Cars rumbling past,
A constant stream of traffic noise,
An occasional backfire to make me flinch,
Horns honking,
As if anyone could travel faster on these roadways
Neglected and cracked.

The wind is picking up
To hit each chime at different intervals.
Harmonic tones making a song
Counterpoint to distant sirens and barking dogs.
When the wind stills,
Frogs sing against the background
Of road-racers gunning their engines.
A bizarre dream-
Living in an oasis at the heart of town.

A longing for one moment of sheer, complete silence
Moves my heart.
Normally I can screen the sounds out,
Find the still place within.
Not these days.
Not while vigilance grips my mind.
Tells me to remain awake.
Not while sitting on my patio,
Doors unlocked,
Registers like an act of courage . . .
Or foolishness.

The wind's come up again,
Stronger this time
As if to overcome what invades
This small garden space.
It can forge a mighty battle when needed
My invisible sentry.

Author's Note

Just this night, 7/17/16. Maybe unfinished . . . Sharing where I live with you all, and what I'm thinking about.

Reviews

[Inject Positivity]

You have way with words and nature.... Your words show deep longing for our mother nature and it's unbelievable creations... The poem vividly presents the picture of the your life along with the city and nature... Night to me is the best moment to find peace in today's world, at least our nature gets the chance to breathe a little easier...

Quite a lovely use of words... The first stanza makes me think of the life at night in my town...

Sincerely
Dhiman

[Marianne Rose]

Thank you Dhiman- you caught my longing for nature, as well as her indomitable spirit that can keep going even through the cracks in the cement and blaring human noise. She is unbelievable in the way she co-exists with us, forgiving our trespasses on her ground. I'm happy for you that you have the kind of nights that make you breathe a sigh of relief. That is definitely what I seek- will have to look inside for it here, and bring a few nature sounds with me. Appreciate your reading this and your wonderful review.

[. serah .]

~ rapid urbanization and lack of vision in town-planning has led to this crisis... and now it's fuelling climate change... one of the ugliest realities of our times... (in addition to ISIS of course)...

[Marianne Rose]

Yes, we grew too fast. In a corporation, if it grows faster than its infrastructure, it will move into chaos until it builds the infrastructure it needs to support growth, or decline rapidly or be bought up by another corporation that has the capacity to handle growth. We haven't taken this into account . . . On a global level . . . So our global infrastructure is threatened, by our lack of foresight and consciousness. Greed plays such a big part here, I think. Thanks for your thoughtful review.

[GalaxyGhost]

This is beautiful! It pulls in readers by describing the surroundings with sound, pictures, and feeling. I love it!

[Pryde Foltz]

Gorgeous and very effective imagery here. You captured the not-so-quiet nightscape with aplomb:)

[Marianne Rose]

Thanks- one of the least of the writings I posted really- just a need to connect out there with friends online. Appreciate your kind words . . . Will check out your writing too.

[Marianne Rose]

HI again Pryde- just read your bio, and will check out your spoken poetry sometime when I have the chance- not in a place where that would work right now, so will try again when I have more privacy- thanks for the heads up. I've only been here since late June- pretty new to all this and still learning the system of things here . . .

[Pryde Foltz]

Great ... that would be much appreciated, Marianne:)