Floating Umbrellas in a Swimming Pool
by Odin Roark


Urban density,
a dissonant crush of melodies
once shouted from pushcarts and rooftops,
sidewalks and crosswalks,
stadiums and ball fields,
the tremolo of high Cs,
the basso profundo of low Gs,
now vacuous aftershocks,
as desperate gasps of today’s id
asks ego's replay of history to stop.

Today…

Sensory mirrors of fractured reflections
rapidly become shards of desperation,
continuing tight clutching to the bosom,
a resonant vibration suffocating in denial.

All while…

Others of means and escape
listen earnestly to echoes of their own company,
the hearing of such isolated talk,
the seeing of such narcissistic indulgence,
obviates simple traffic jams of awareness,
and become today's repetitive mash-ups.

Such are the hubristic grumblings and shelter cornering
against the urban mind’s cyclonic weather,
all while the lost voices of honesty,
the once integral essence of all mankind,
murmurs silent implorations,
hoping its reality of drowning hope,
its futile cries for help
go not forever unheard.

For many of the fortunate…

Puzzling is their modern unawakening,
an enigmatic protecting of themselves against themselves,
lest they become like the less fortunate,
mere spent umbrellas floating in a swimming pool.