Saturday, September 30, 2017

AUTUMN IN THE CITY


Submitted to Poets United
Poetry Pantry #373
September 30, 2017





****************


Under the highway overpass, sun browned leaves
 skitter across the pavement and gather about the
cardboard castles of those who call them home.
Their residents seek escape from the real world.
Jaded with empty pleasures, haunted by old regrets
and unfulfilled promises, their stories are as varied
as their faces.

A heartbeat away are the glittering hotels, the valet
parking, and the posh pubs where money and liquor
flow freely … and  the beautiful people seek escape
in other ways. 

****************
the road to escape
disparate byways chosen
a dichotomy

23 comments:

  1. Loved the social commentary on this one, Bev. I like cardboard castles here - to some these kind of homes are more precious than the palaces.

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  2. Such a contrast - those with too much and those with too little, each seeking escape in various ways. Well said, Beverly!

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  3. The contrast is startling... and the wider you look there will always be those for which a box is a castle...

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  4. You hit the nail on the head Bev, a great write. Thanks for sharing it.

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  5. Such an intriguing contrast you have painted here, Beverly!

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  6. As winter approaches, your poem squeezes at my heart. The cold makes things get really rough for cardboard castle dwellers in New York City, and those who can help most rarely care to notice... not while the snow might ruin their pretty shoes.

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  7. Indeed - different lifestyles exist so close to one another - but it seems those who live in fancy hotels are hardly aware at all of the struggling who live so near.

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  8. True. You're right and I like your poem! Great write!

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  9. Lives so different, yet all human. There is such contrast in some of the ways we live.
    Good writing.

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  10. The shared truth that hides in these seemingly paradoxical 'temporary quarters' is stunning. A superbly written haibun ... the haiku dovetailing beautifully with the prose piece.

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  11. And each in the posh hotel are but moments away from cardboard boxes...we all are.

    Donna@LivingFromHappiness

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  12. I've seen many such scenes of contrast, but have never lived them.

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  13. This is a sad reality in life that plays out so often. You have captured the true essence of escapism.

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  14. That's quite a juxtaposition. I could have sworn it was an underpass in Asheville NC. I visited a homeless man there one to see his collection of bottles.

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  15. Yes, there are places where the divide is very apparent. A sad world, when both extremes feel the need for escape from their own particular kind of poverty. Neither is to be preferred, I think.

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  16. They are not beautiful people. They don't even look it.

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  17. Very stark parallels in in your haibun Bev. Meeting points are vividly unrealistic

    much love...

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  18. The contrast between the haves and the have-nots is heartbreaking.

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  19. It is that inequality that leads to chaos..a world in which a few have too much and too many have too little. A sad commentary on our times.

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  20. You nailed it right on the head. What a contrast in lives. So sad.

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  21. An excellent (but sad) social commentary Bev.
    Anna :o]

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