ManahachtanienkHenry’s boys
on the Halve Maen
must have seen
something in 1609,
sliding up river,
mapping future
condo projects
up and down
the Hudson.
For 400 years,
disappointment
has left its mark
on this city, ground
into the pavement
by centuries
of footsteps
up and down
the avenues.
Concentration
8 hours at a time,
57th to Wall Street,
Standard &
Poor Sobibór
as trains carry
their daily load
up and down
the tracks.
The lure of Gold-
man Sachs logic,
so we keep coming,
as fortunes rise
and humans fall,
like marquee names
up and down
Broadway.
SMG
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11 comments:
LOVE... Symmetry visually exceptional story has impact
Debbie
i like the restlessness and beat in this piece - the footsteps of centuries - up and down - 8 hours a time - keep coming
The line break at Gold-Man Sachs is priceless.
Not sure I know how I feel about the ending; seems like you could focus more. But the first 2/3 are glorious. Almost like you're taking the loose string at the end of the Great Gatsby and tug on it.
think i am with KW, the first 2/3 is really rich...and that line break on gold man sachs is a riot...well played....
Free verse at its freest, with the strong flow of narrative shaping it, and the comparisons to the abandoned search for the wealth of the chimerical Northwest Passage and the echoes of the concentration camp underscoring the themes of disappointment,self-delusion and an ill fate. Fine writing, as always, SMG.
loved the rhythm and almost a sense of urgency in this ..thanks for sharing
That was a reviving tale. Lovely write, so brief yet so rich in context.
Urgent and precise, SMG, loved the flow and freedom alike a narrative poem here. Tend to agree that the first 2/3 is such a wonderful tapestry, but the final 1/3 could do with a bit of tightening! Great read though I can imagine this one at an open mic.
I don't know what poem they're reading up there in the comments but this piece holds together for me all the way through and I think the ending is brilliant. I've seen all those early pictures of Broadway and can think how many shows, hearts and lives have changed; how the freedoms and fortunes of the nation have been reflected by the plays and entertainments on the great white way. This is the Manhattan that I love, itself a metaphor.
love.
eden
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