Tuesday 11 November 2014

city night


the illuminated canyon walls of city night
glow, lurid and yet dazzlingly beautiful –
a garish, fluorescent valley of the shadow:
upon which a theatre of disparity plays out

where the mean and guileless are draped
in the same glitter and the gleam
of neon rainbows and moonbeams

and happy revelers mingle
amongst the broken souls, street wise and
lost angels, in a precarious circus of delights –

a kaleidoscopic, schizophrenic scene
of humankind lit – stark – against the glare
of rich castle blocks carved in rock hard sugar
capped in golden crowns . . .

and in the air . . . amid exhausts and café wafts
a nebulous excitement and urgency,
that pummels like a drum beat . . .

as those passing through:
enroute, with somewhere else to go –
wonder, if they should be on their way
or stay a while, and just –  take in the show . . .

photos:  night lights of the city (Downtown Vancouver) – W. Bourke

© 2014 Wendy Bourke

7 comments:

  1. How you've captured the city at night: a neon canyon where humankind gathers, the happy revelers, the mean and guileless … all of us!

    Always admire your photos too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. like moths humans flow towards city lights in the dream of dazzling...love the cluster of beautiful images throughout the poem....

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, that is the city at night...splendidly written, Wendy. I am there, in your words.

    ReplyDelete
  4. A city at night... the simile of a canyon is very good.. yes I do like that image.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wendy, you have conveyed the beauty and excitement of the holiday season so well. I too love the image of the 'illuminated canyon walls'.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You have captured the mood of a big city at night, Wendy. So much activity, so much hustle and bustle. I do always wonder about those nightly visitors to any big city.

    ReplyDelete