I stand alone,
On a frozen El platform.
What pleasures have I left behind?


The child has grown
Three feet since last I saw!
Eyes of a hawk


Frozen bird,
Heart chewed out
Onto stark white snow


Dinner party…
Tender snowflakes fall
Against purple sky


Train roars above
Shakes loose the track;
Lion runs through a thicket


A cat’s pink ear
Conch shell by the sea
Hears eternal waves.


Frost grows like mold
On a building’s side;
The city churns


Steam from a chimney
Meanders vertically,
Cars, a horizontal stream


Sun forgives icicles
Winter has arrived
Where have the days gone?

Downtown’s history is visible
In its layout.
On the outskirts of Los Angeles,
Chicago, St. Louis,
Great buildings jet upward
Pronouncing their position.
“Isn’t the skyline idyllic?”
They say.
The giant sculptures overlook
Their surroundings:
Industry, mainly, moats metropolis.
Wrecking yards and power plants,
All once outskirts of the city,
Now tucked inside, desolate,
Save for artist lofts and storage facilities.