Tuesday

[CdnReader]

.

Tuesday

Tuesday
One in the afternoon
The corner of Aldwych and Kingsway

A relentless flow of people
Clutching their umbrellas and briefcases,
Collars up against the cold,
Heads down
Eyes averted.

I pause....stop....
To think a moment about
The choices offered here....
I could go north to the Museum,
south to the Thames,
east to the Library
..........(no, I don't wish to work anymore today),
or west to my favourite cafe.

The surge of the crowd
is forced to separate and go around me.
A man wearing a black trenchcoat,
A piercing stare,
An angry mouth,
A sullen expression,
Glares as he steps around me,
Frustrated that I've made him look up
and take two extra
(and completely unnecessary!)
steps.

Don't I know that he's late?
Don't I realize that his prime concerns
are the size of his bankbook
and the timing of his next appointment?

I'm trapped in a nightmare of neoliberal madness...
in a city whose future
is stuck on fast-forward.

.
cdn/20mar07
.

[Poppy]

.

Tuesday

Tuesday
One in the afternoon
The corner of Aldwych and Kingsway

A relentless flow of people
Clutching their umbrellas and briefcases,
Collars up against the cold,
Heads down
Eyes averted.

I pause....stop....
To think a moment about
The choices offered here....
I could go north to the Museum,
south to the Thames,
east to the Library
..........(no, I don't wish to work anymore today),
or west to my favourite cafe.

The surge of the crowd
is forced to separate and go around me.
A man wearing a black trenchcoat,
A piercing stare,
An angry mouth,
A sullen expression,
Glares as he steps around me,
Frustrated that I've made him look up
and take two extra
(and completely unnecessary!)
steps.

Don't I know that he's late?
Don't I realize that his prime concerns
are the size of his bankbook
and the timing of his next appointment?

I'm trapped in a nightmare of neoliberal madness...
in a city whose future
is stuck on fast-forward.

.
cdn/20mar07
.

Excellent, Excellent. Don't we live in such a hurried pace. Wouldn't it be great if everyone could slow down, enjoy our surroundings. Dang stress. You did much to relieve it.

[CdnReader]

Thanks, Poppy. It's my first time living in such a big city as London, and it surely does show you a different side of the world. LOL!

[motherhubbard]

stuck on fast-forward

this really creates a vivid and unmistakable effect- everyone has seen this moment and wouldn't it be something if everyone suddenly stood still and took a moment to consider things- which way am I going and why.

This makes me glad I took a little extra time to watch the chickens this morning.

[CdnReader]

:) It felt like a stop-motion film. Me frozen in time, and the crowd winding around me.

[motherhubbard]

that's what it looked like when I read it

[PrinceMyshkin]

Wonderful! One of your best. I love these candid snapshots, a moment in time captured & held forever, and all those precisely noted details. But HEY! did you go East, West or - sideways?

[Bartholomew]

One point that stuck out to me: people nowadays, concerned with business, rarely think of North, South, East or West; they simply think of the streets and left or right. The directions are hardly used today in a world where roads lead from place to place. You don't need to know if you're heading North or East. Picking up on such a thing represents an antiquated mindset, but a mindset in which you know where you are and how to truly get to places and to place yourself.

[CdnReader]

Very interesting point, Bartholomew! The cardinal directions have always mattered to me, because I'm a self-professed map addict. I do see what you mean, but I'm not sure how I feel about being called "antiquated." LOL!

Jer.... In the end, it was no contest. The cafe was too strong a temptation. ;)

[Granny5]

CdnReader, It's a lovely poem. We live in such a laid back area that I wonder how we would react to the fast forward life style of a large city. What is rushed to us would probably seem slow to city folks.

[Pendragon]

Neoliberal? Indeed. Like Granny Sandy, folk around here are so laid back it ain't funny. I mean even the most educated people I know often sound like they came straight from the farm. But we like it that way. I've been to many places where I had to change my voice to talk so formal that I felt like ET trying to phone home. Finally, I just decided to be me. If that ain't good enough, who needs it? Love your poem as usual, CDN. Still can see that "D" shape if I look close enough. But that's a complipent...not a condemnation!

:thumbs_up

[CdnReader]

Thanks, Granny and Pen. I do look forward to living at a MUCH slower place once this part of my journey is complete. :)

[TheFifthElement]

.

Tuesday

Tuesday
One in the afternoon
The corner of Aldwych and Kingsway

A relentless flow of people
Clutching their umbrellas and briefcases,
Collars up against the cold,
Heads down
Eyes averted.

I pause....stop....
To think a moment about
The choices offered here....
I could go north to the Museum,
south to the Thames,
east to the Library
..........(no, I don't wish to work anymore today),
or west to my favourite cafe.

The surge of the crowd
is forced to separate and go around me.
A man wearing a black trenchcoat,
A piercing stare,
An angry mouth,
A sullen expression,
Glares as he steps around me,
Frustrated that I've made him look up
and take two extra
(and completely unnecessary!)
steps.

Don't I know that he's late?
Don't I realize that his prime concerns
are the size of his bankbook
and the timing of his next appointment?

I'm trapped in a nightmare of neoliberal madness...
in a city whose future
is stuck on fast-forward.

.
cdn/20mar07
.

I've had the pleasure of visiting the lovely Londinium today and I think we may have bumped into the same man! You've captured the atmosphere perfectly. Why is everyone always in such an awful rush, without even time or, it seems, the capacity to smile? An excellent poem Cdn, by far my favourite of yours so far.

I disagree with the comments made by Bartholomew, I think in London, as in the rest of UK, we still think very much in terms of 'North', 'South', 'East' and 'West'. Antiquated it may be, but then so is the Queen!

[Bartholomew]

Oh, I just mean that people don't whip out a directional compass or look to the stars when they're trying to find their way somewhere; that kind of thing. When I need to get somewhere, I think "Left at Albany St., right at Somerset Blvd., left on College Ave." and so forth.

[CdnReader]

Thanks, Fifth. I can't speak for Londoners in general, but that's definitely the way MY mind works. I actually can't function if I don't know which way is North, South, East, West. It's part of what plants me firmly in the world, just as Bartholomew mentioned above. I feel adrift and disconnected unless I've pinpointed my location on a map. :)

[manny2]

iv read a few of your poems and so far i think i might like this one best, you do have many good ones, but this has caught my interest most

[CdnReader]

Thanks very much, Manny2. I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)

[Gadget Girl]

Wow! Wonderful!! I like it very much! Good job! :)

[AuntShecky]

Cdn Reader, your poems work best when you include
specific images that we can see, sounds we can hear, and
so forth. The specificity of this poem makes it breathe.

By the way, if I'm not out of line to ask, what does the Cdn
mean in your name?

[CdnReader]

Thank you, Gadget Girl. :)

AS, "Cdn" is an abbreviation for "Canadian" -- of which I are one. *grin*

[AuntShecky]

Wow, I love Canada and all things Canadian, including the
comedians from there. Unfortunately, even though I live relatively close to the border, my government won't let me visit until I get a Passport!