Sirens call me at two in the morning

[gurdonark]

An angry man shouts the gospel on the street
as I walk past him through the rain,
his theology lost in distance and poor acoustics.
I pass a twentysomething woman at the BART stop,
holding a cane as she sits on a flash-floodlet
sidewalk, counting small change she begged to get.

At night, when I sleep strangely in a strange place,
the whir of a siren breaks the rain-like drip, drip drip of
dreams that envelop me like the scent of strong coffee
percolating danger, brewing distant trouble.
When I walk beside people, whose lives
turned onto the highway with the bridges
some San Francisco earthquake destroyed long ago,

I feel myself shrink back, a bit, and I feel ashamed;
ashamed of living, in a sandwich wrapping bag,
so many miles away, so many eons apart,
in a universe where the sirens only sound
when some elderly soul has sounded some final, silent security alarm,
quietly whispering that it's time to take her home

Comments

[maltese-cat.livejournal.com]

Your writing is beautiful

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

What a nice compliment. Thank you.

[marstokyo.livejournal.com]

how very lovely!

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm glad you like it.

[twiceuponatime.livejournal.com]

OH! MY God.

Amazing.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Thank you! What a nice thing to say.

[nacowafer.livejournal.com]

Really lovely...reminds me of the last verse of an Eels song...

Laying in bed tonight I was thinking
and listening to all the dogs
and the sirens and the shots
And how a careful man tries
to dodge the bullets
While a happy man takes a walk

And maybe it's time to live

You seem to both dodge the bullets and take walks!

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

The song lyric reminded me of a friend I knew who lived in Hollywood who used to report how odd it was to hear shots every night. Hollywood is not all dangerous, but it is all really close together with lots of apartments, so any shot anyplace would be heard anywhere.

This week I'm staying at a really cool hotel in a not so cool locale, which really brings the contrasts home.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_riomaggiore/]

a description of how most of the world's population lives. those of us on the outskirts have a gift we don't realize until we step into the shoes of those not given the same gift. ashamed? no, i'd say just more aware, appreciative and empathetic.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

That's a really good point on empathy v. shame.

[dandycat.livejournal.com]

that is incredible!

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Why thank you. I like that coolest girl in the world gets a life, not least because it would also work as most worldly girl in the world gets cool :)