Elizabeth Englander

I am a city by the sea

sinking into a toxic tide.

I've been scattered in pieces,

torn by conflict,

mocked by laughter,

washed down in drink.

In alleyways I sweep myself up

out of garbage and broken glass.

It’s here in all the pieces of my shame

that now I find myself again. [1]

* * * * *

Manhattan sinking like a rock

into the filthy Hudson, what a shock.

They wrote a book about it,

they said it was like ancient Rome. [2]

1 - Rainer Maria Rilke, “II,2” (excerpts), Rilke’s Book of Hours, trans. Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy, Riverhead Books, New York, NY: 1996, 2005.

2 - Lou Reed, “Romeo Had Juliette,” New York, Sire, 1989.