Jackhammer
Nov 25 2008


Jackhammers attack
badly patched asphalt,
leaving a blasted and cracked
macadam path.

Garbage trucks crush trash,
massive compacters
leaving nothing intact.
While sirens flash
keeping passers-by back,
in a mad dash to catch a thief,
rescue cats from trees.

And bad bands
from salsa to rap
blast out the gaps
in half-open doors,
the smoky glass
of dance halls and bars —
fans jammed into ragged queues,
and passing cars
blasting their horns at stragglers
spilling-out of the pack into traffic.

This is the din of the city
the cacophony of urban living,
which some find uplifting
and others hideous.

Me, I drift through town oblivious
ear-buds dangling, my iPod loud,
as Bach’s cello suites
enclose me in sound.