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On Dirtied Pavement.

On the edge of metropolitan midnight
he lays in a breathless silence
rasping the evanescing yesterdays to his windows
both open and locked,
while the unknowing below in stale smoke barrooms,
wait to sear his wounds and retell his life
in putrefied requiem.

Abashed metropolis
echoing of muted voices once adorning the streets
in practiced synthetic ritual, 
the vile awash and seeping through asphalt cracks,
the scent of rot, old and new, smattered on old brick edifices 
silences the ascending smoke plumes 
belched from and within dirtied concrete towers,
the final endeavor from within a dying mans spirit
reaching out to no one

City’s voice wails from the antechamber in darkness
anxieties fracturing the panes amongst the downtown fire
of urban panic
lucidity congealing away within him, kept only in the moment
by metronome dripped medicine
exposing him to his damp streets, dirtied culverts, sewer ditches
chemically induced and maintained.
Fighting for his identity within this sterilized chaos,
whispering for the few of open mind somewhere below the window sill,
quicky stepping onward, over his newsprint life,
calling out one last time

There he lays in cold white sterility,
calling silently to his windows,  both opened and locked,
watching his stories catch and fade in the dull humid streetlight
wisped away on steam grate stale winds,
the dying soul, eyes closed, his aged lined face
muddied, scraped, and walked over,
through the grime of progression left on sullied pavement.

Copyright © | Year Posted 2009




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Date: 5/28/2016 11:57:00 AM
The imagery is deep, I love the line, --There he lays in cold white sterility, calling silently to his windows, both opened and locked,--- WOW, both open and locked, thoughts I'm still pondering on... SKAT
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Date: 2/28/2014 11:13:00 AM
Absolutely brilliant. Thanks for making my day. I have found it pleasurable to always begin the weekend with Poetrysoup because poets like you and poems like this do not disappoint. Have a lovely weekend
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Date: 4/9/2009 3:58:00 PM
I really felt this poem, Charles, more than anything I've read today, jmg
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Date: 3/22/2009 1:50:00 PM
Powerful imagery and a very poignant write here, Charles!! Sure hope they find someone to buy this site so we can continue this dance of excellence!!
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Date: 3/3/2009 7:54:00 AM
charles, magnificent poem of reality as it really is. sometimes we don't really want to see it; but it is what it is . thank you for writing this. janetta
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Date: 2/7/2009 6:50:00 PM
deep.... powerful... unforgetable... put it the favs. Enjoyed reading this and have a woderful day.
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Date: 1/21/2009 3:40:00 PM
Nice free verse Charles...Raul
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Date: 1/21/2009 12:47:00 PM
I don't know if I have said this about another of your poems. This is so like the 'Beat' writings. But it also shares a feel of the Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler hard boiled writing. The atmosphere is caught so well in here and the reader feels many emotions. I like the third-person narrative, it works very well and sometime borders on prose. A wonderful use of form that is fantastically imaginative.
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Date: 1/21/2009 5:33:00 AM
Wow, this is chaos. It reminded me of 9/11 and the tragic madness that it must have been. very excellent poetry, excellent! Love, Kristin
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Date: 1/20/2009 5:53:00 PM
You put a picture in my mind...as if I had read a screenplay, or read a novel. Dark, sad, grimy...so earthy and real....excellent writing, Charles!! I feel like I've walked through the seedy side of a city, and need a breath of air! Well done! ~ Carrie
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Date: 1/20/2009 4:16:00 PM
Charlie, do you have a book published yet? If not you know that is in your future.Truly amazing writing here as usual. Love and blessings to you and yours, Carol P.S. Charlie when you have a minute please read my poem Charlie's Little Girl
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Date: 1/20/2009 9:27:00 AM
A realistic painting of an urban nightmare. Reads like a Simon & Garfunkel tale about aloneless in a city of many people. A nameless person among many names. Powerful write you have here, nicely written. Kathleen
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