Life is a Song

In the gritty alleys of city schemes,
Life's grumble rides on subway beams.
Rhythms clink in the rusty car,
Street-wise notes play on sidewalk tar.
Concrete cracks hum a tired tune,
City pigeons coo under a polluted moon.
Taxi horns blare, a cacophony's cheer,
Sirens wail, the soundtrack of fear.

Life is a song, a honky-tonk brawl,
Cement jungles, a chaotic sprawl.
Urban beats pound in rusty shoes,
Overtures conducted by construction crews.
Life is a song, a discordant rhyme,
Concrete canyons in the urban grime.
A traffic jam's crescendo, a city's drone,
Melody mangled in a monochrome tone.

(Bridge)
Subway rats squeak in the sewer's groove,
Graffiti tags on the alley's cove.
Metro tunnels hum, commuters blend,
In this manmade scape, no celestial trend
Even as elastic-plasticene toys we bend
and we bend and we bend and we bend. 

Street vendors shout in a market square,
City lights flicker in a neon affair.
Concrete dreams crumble, a harsh street art,
As the cityscape plays its coldhearted part.

Life is a song, a jumbled beat,
Wise guy rhythms in a crowded street.
In the urban score, we play our strife,
Notes of survival in the concrete life.

The final act, a city's weary kiss,
An asphalt encore, a gritty bliss.
Life's song, a graffiti-scrawled word,
In the noisy streets, an echoing absurd.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2024

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Empress Avatar
January 13, 2024 at 2:52 AM
This is just brilliant, not everyday do i read such unique wordplay and metaphors! I absolutely love how you’ve shown the raw reality of life with street diction that depicts it all making it all flow with also musical wordplay that suits and fits the prompt so well. I was especially blown away by the ending “ Life's song, a graffiti-scrawled word, In the noisy streets, an echoing absurd.” Just powerful! How true and soul hitting! This is! Congratulations on your well deserved win!
Thomas Avatar
January 13, 2024 at 10:01 AM
Well don't go blowing my head up, Ink! I sincerely appreciate the placement and your review is very validating on a work I wasn't sure would connect with many people. As much as I adore life and think it's grand, I do think its underbelly is just as interesting, sometimes more. Glad you liked it and thank you again :)
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