THE AFTERNOON IS URBAN

The afternoon is urban—
The streets are peopled with footsteps
Somewhat luminous—
Shadows are silhouetted on skyscrapers
And our love’s gone wrong – *
The sun’s shimmering sunset
The exodus to the suburbs –
The red bud and azalea are in full bloom—
The bells are chiming
What are we to do—
Sit on an iron bench in Jackson Square
A full moon and Venus appears
Eternity drips away, inch by inch, inside us—*
Tarot card readers beckon
Can they tell us about the stars—
They are born and die just like us
All explorer’s die of a broken heart—*
Is this a saying—it isn’t true
How can we fix our love—
Explore our inner beings
Maybe a clue we’ll find—
Somewhat mysterious
Fading sunlight on the water in the fountain—
Will our love fade away
Like the shadows, like the sun—
The afternoon is urban
Electricity is in the air—
A quickening in our souls
Tankers glide by on the river—
What exotic ports are they bound
Somewhat imaginary—
The river Mississippi
Each second it changes—
And what of our love
Do we want to explore—
A horse and buggy clip-clodding
The sound of a trumpet—
Wafting in the breeze
Music is illusionatory—
Where does love go
When it is over—
Does it fade away
Or is it reborn somewhere else—
The afternoon is urban
The pigeons are feeding at our feet—
The smell of beignets
Beckons us—

*Black Zodiac by Charles Wright