The City Stays a Stranger

The city stays a stranger in the bitter winds eye cast upon shadowless shapes that issue from obscure corners dividing the ancient labyrinths at dusk Solemn stone walls suspended in both directions swallow up steep hills Unsteady steps dissolve in retrospect towards insensible ground Torn and ragged streets confront the silence of the cries of a thousand incoherencies speaking at the cold border that feeds grooved tentacles The city stays a stranger That beckons, walk with me I can lead the way to terrified solitude I can decapitate the present from the past I am the wayfarer with his dark deference and troubled movement staggering in the twilight I am the car that roars by with the breath of uncontrollable horses I am the two girls filled with mad joy, snatching puffs of cigarettes and brushing back their hair I am the festival at night, the little man, and the pointed prison I am the rush of the crowd, the smoke, and the blazing light I have come for you again Awake from your disturbed dreams and troubled pillow Walk these un-straight lines as we mingle with tomorrow