Downtown Poem by Kristina Louisa Carr

Architectural wonders built with lots of power and expertise
Tower above a tamed river touching the clouds with ease
Precise vertical constructions planned by structural engineers
Impressive connotations that have to withstand many years
The river once wild and free now stumbles in its concrete bed
Slowly pushes polluted water void of health and almost dead

Much wealth and progress is sheltered in reinforced concrete
And in the sunlight glass fronts sparkle high above the street
Elevators spit out people mostly dressed in dark suits and ties
While marble tiled hallways swallow footsteps without chastise
Bistro and deli restaurants offer sophisticated menues until five
Thereafter the streets change abruptly and new inhabitants arrive

Void of motions parking lots and garages are now empty and dark
The night settled in with patrol cars lining the outskirts of the park
A man on the corner quotes poetry to his bottle hidden in a bag
And empty city buses park in the terminal under the national flag
The lost and forgotten own the sidewalks during the hours of doom
Some are lucky and get a meal at a shelter in an overcrowded room

Furry critters find discards in trashcans then disappear in the shade
While card board hides the wounded in bedrooms that are handmade
The bail bonds man is open for business located by the police station
Where the sleepless gather discussing the consequences of a violation
The city canalization coughs to the whistle of rusty air condition shafts
And dirty layers of clothing are protecting an old woman from cold drafts

Soon it will be dawn again and the nightly creatures will move aside
When fancy cars arrive from the suburbs like an inevitable new tide
Starbucks will sell hot coffee for the price of a warm bed at the shelter
And the self satisfied suits embrace a new day of stress and swelter
At night the streets will change again keeping the equilibrium in tact
What time will you be downtown and are you sure as a matter of fact