Home » Poems » Alesia Leach » The Hollow City

The Hollow City

(The Hollow City Cycle include:
The Hollow City
I Remember You -- the city speaks
Last One Left)

No footsteps echo on broken stone,
only wind dragging secrets through dust.
The city sighs—
its breath made of ivy and rust.

Windows gape like hollow eyes,
watching nothing, remembering everything.
A carousel groans beneath twisted vines,
still waiting for laughter
that will never return.

Billboards fade into ghost stories.
Sidewalks crack like old skin.
Somewhere, a music box plays
a broken lullaby
to the bones of joy.

This place is a tomb
with the scent of childhood chalk
and the silence of too-late prayers.

Whatever happened here
left no fire,
only
quiet.

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Paige Hind

Date: 5/11/2025 3:57:00 PM

I love your depiction of city's hollow feeling. Deepest regards, for the deepest poetry.

Alesia Leach
Date: 5/18/2025 12:21:00 PM

Thank you, Paige. I’m so grateful for your kind words. That hollow feeling can be hard to put into words, so it means a lot that the poem connected with you. Sending appreciation right back for your depth and generosity.

Justin Bordner

Date: 4/13/2025 9:06:00 AM

Awesome sensuality in this poem, this metaphor of life abandoned with little more than a whimper. Soo physical, tangible, and sentimental your style can be Poetess. The juxtapositions are brilliant, and spiritually forceful, "watching nothing, remembering everything...waiting for laughter that will never return...this place is a tomb with the scent of childhood chalk." Your poetry has something important to say Alesia. You have undeniable talent, soul...J.A.B. A FAV!!