Objects everywhere
Neon lights flashing their fluorescent message.
Skyscrapers reaching up and soaring into darkness
Mechanical things beckoning through the window
to escape the rushage.
I am here.
Times Square
People everywhere
Surging in and out of buildings
Crowding on the sidewalks
Pushing people forward in a lemming tide
of hidings.
I am there.
Time Square
Me is there
Stopping in the middle of the pounding rain
Plating feet and staying firm; I watch the crowd
My heart twinges, my eyes wince with an all
too familiar pain.
I am alone.
###Originally written in high school. I was supposed to pick a favorite poem by a famous poet, and I forgot. So, I wrote this quickly that morning and read it in class. I couldn't come up with the name of a poet, so I said it was written by Arthur Ashe. Good poem or bad poem, I got away with it. At least if the teacher knew, she never let on.####
*****I rediscovered the original copy I wrote in ink in the cafetorium that morning. It looks like the fake name I came up with was Arthur Ashmun. It was definitely inspired by Arthur Ashe, but at least I had enough sense to disguise it. I also made minor changes to conform to the inked original I found.
Good poem just off the cuff! ;-D
ReplyDeleteWasn't he a tennis pro? You're fascinating. I shall be the ever "not so anonymous" - of course, Julie :)
ReplyDeleteWho was the teacher, Tom?? lol
ReplyDeleteBenita, I don't remember her name, other than I'm pretty sure she was a first year teacher. Tall with long black hair, maybe? Of course, to me, pretty much everyone was tall.
ReplyDeleteJulie, yes Arthur Ashe was a tennis player, the first prominent African-American tennis pro. It was the first name that popped into my head that morning, but neither the teacher nor the class seemed to recognize it.