The View From 21b Poem by S. R. Lavin

I saw the Brooklyn Bridge
from my window, then
walked the narrow streets
to a small park

all the days from then until now
the years whooshed
into memories
of a distant long ago.

On the street below the trash is heaped
and compacted as if a stage set.
The narrator comes out and sits
in the director’s chair.

He speaks this eulogy:
“We are gathered here today
to pay homage to what is left -
the best and most expensive of a civilization -
compacted into these stately black bags.”

It’s a reflection of a peaceful time to come
at home in the refuge
of a wayward empire.

The view from 21B fades
as I drift into sleep,
a symphony of amber lights
in a sleepless city. Today,
like yesterday, fades to black

never to end
never to be again