Nights in London (Poem)

(Note: I wrote this poem during the same summer as I wrote "Cambridge Ghost Walk." Admittedly, this was a very productive period for me as a writer, as I was trying to assimilate the whole experience. This poem tries to capture my experience with London. It was not my first metropolitan city, I had been to New York, Madrid, Paris and other, but it was the first time I was standing in such a city completely alone. It was an interesting feeling.)

Nights in London

Nights in London,

lights mix with dark skies.

Heads bobbing up and down,

lips moving, faces gesture,

hands move..

Silence.

I walked around Piccadilly Circus.

Cars, night buses, pedestrians in a rush.

I entered the crowded Tube,

bumping, pushing, shoving,

an accordion fills the tight space.

No one speaks.

Flashes, rocking,

Mind the Gap.

Westminster, Clock Tower,

a bell named Ben.

Parliament, spotlights,

Lionheart leads the men.

Faces in a sea of flesh,

moving and colliding and

breathing for air.

No voice.

Nights in London,

I walked through the

Tower Bridge.

Thames runs silently

past me.

Hail the Mighty Tower,

fortress of forgotten pain.

Ancient screams and sobs

that nobody hears.

I walked alone

through the

damp

streets

filled with

old

air.

(1999)