Oases to Dunes

Across the rooftops
dotting Manhattan's skyline,
where once TV antennas reigned supreme,
opulent landscaping
asserts oasis dominance,
providing much for the few
a mere fantasy for the many.

Here…

Penthouse gardens
indulge mortgage sized upkeep,
water towers irrigate
lavish trees,
plants,
lap pools,
fountains,
Jacuzzis.

While around the corner…

Fire hydrants
spray waterfall dreams
upon children's bare feet,
as stray canines
bark of summer relief
amidst the innocent laughter/\.

An occasional glance skyward…

Reveals windowed reflections,
high-rise awe undulating upward,
reaching rooftops
where a new century of gilded pardon
pampers power,
vertical by design,
horizontal by impact.

Of late…

Storms of greed
continue leaving behind
windfall's aftermath,
arid landscape erosion
forcing hordes of the innocent
to endure experiencing
trickle-down anything,
holding forth survival's canteen of tolerance,
down to its final drops.

Increasingly…

Dry throats
reduce to whispers
their outcries having once bellowed
through canyons of steel and glass,
now dissolving into hushed reserve,e
no longer able to plead for justice.

Burnt throats of suffocation
eventually utter but gasps of silence.

Suffering,
ignored,
exhausted,
and angry minions,
peering upward
see only
the surreal tower-clock of Babel,
two black hands closing
soon to converge
one upon the other,
hastening finality
where for many
twelve midnight will remain frozen.

All the while…

Leaning over gilded rails from on high,
impoverished souls
peer upon the streets below,
grinning as perky girls in fashionable high heels
accompany junior execs in Armani attire
into the vertical kingdom,
joining the privileged,
where the light-headed have-all,
never feeling the weight
have-nots must shoulder.

For too many leaden feet sink further
into misery's quicksand,
an ever scorched landscape of despair,
where the thirst for living
labors only to last through
the next parched breath.

In the surrounding neighborhoods
expectation continues romping
in fire hydrant showers.

Choices await...

Imaginings flourish,
not yet aware
that like their parents,
everyone's dreams
eventuate realities they need,
their sanctuary for the moment,
unrealistic aspirations becoming
oases to dunes.