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Elizabeth Santos
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-11-08
Posts 9269
Pennsylvania

0 posted 2004-06-14 06:44 AM




The Heartbeat of New York

There was a rhythm pulsing through
The vibrant streets in twilight blue
Where throbbing arteries define
Morality’s transparent line

The naked life along the curb
Cut through aromas laced with herb
In pots from which the homeless draw
A smell that’s institutional

And in the noise my ears could see
A dialect of poverty
And in the cultural blend of soups
Were pretty legs on concrete stoops

The steamy air was hazy brew
Of summer heat and cabby stew
And there in billows of exhaust
I thought that I was somehow lost

Intentionally I slowed my pace
To view an old and weathered face
Within a pawn shop’s tarnished glass
I witnessed all the years that passed

For it was here that love was won
And it was here love came undone
And now I find myself adrift
On diamond sands that slowly shift

The summer air that I once knew
Is now the smell of cabby stew
And I can’t seem to recognize
The stark reflections in my eyes

A generation’s pedigree
Of misery and ecstasy
Are rhythms of the pulsing streets
In waves of pounding rapper’s beats

It seems that I’ve returned to see
The corners of reality
Where images of summer nights
Beam down from distant satellites

You can’t return, you can’t go home
Once you have let the spirit roam
But there within the thread of time
There is a constancy divine

The years and decades can’t erase
The look of love upon my face
Nor will sweet memories ever part
From downy pillows in my heart

Elizabeth Santos

© Copyright 2004 Elizabeth Santos - All Rights Reserved
Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354
Listening to every heart
1 posted 2004-06-14 07:43 AM


And now I find myself adrift
On diamond sands that slowly shift

~*~

I know the adrift stage...
just wish I could apply
imagery to meter
as well as you...

this is wonderful, Elizabeth.  Thank you.

Seymour Tabin
Member Empyrean
since 1999-07-07
Posts 31720
Tamarac Fla
2 posted 2004-06-14 07:47 AM


Elizabeth,
"
The years and decades can’t erase
The look of love upon my face
Nor will sweet memories ever part
From downy pillows in my heart

Eceptional Write. Sy


Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049
California
3 posted 2004-06-14 10:25 AM


Liz

"You can’t return, you can’t go home
Once you have let the spirit roam
But there within the thread of time
There is a constancy divine"

Your vision is so clear!  

LeeJ
Member Patricius
since 2003-06-19
Posts 13296

4 posted 2004-06-14 10:34 AM


hi Liz and Good Morning

They meter and rhyme to your work fits perfectly in the images you project...very lovely write.


Enchantress
Member Empyrean
since 2001-08-14
Posts 35113
Canada eh.
5 posted 2004-06-14 10:36 AM


Oh my how beautiful Liz...love this keeper.
Hugs~

choshi
Senior Member
since 2004-01-01
Posts 1184
New York
6 posted 2004-06-14 01:20 PM


Take it from a native New Yorker, Your images, aromas and emotions are stunning and completely evocative.....~P
iliana
Member Patricius
since 2003-12-05
Posts 13434
USA
7 posted 2004-06-14 01:28 PM


I enjoyed your trip home very much.  You captured the street feel well (that's my viewpoint as an observer as I have only visited there several times).  But the real point you made, for me was in the last three stanzas and you are so right about that.  It is a bitter/sweet thing.   ....jo
JL
Member Ascendant
since 2004-04-01
Posts 6128
Texas, USA
8 posted 2004-06-14 03:29 PM


Excellent poetry!  Enjoyed.

JL

She said: ”You look cute in the dark.”


passing shadows
Member Empyrean
since 1999-08-26
Posts 45577
displaced
9 posted 2004-06-17 12:40 PM


ah sigh

nice write

suthern
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Seraphic
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723
Louisiana
10 posted 2004-06-17 03:58 PM


Reading this sent me back into the archives... to revisit some of the poems that put you on my "must-read" list forever. *S* You've captured a place and time every bit as vividly as you did in "Have You Ever Seen Poverty?" and "The Day of the Senator"... then left us with the heart-pull of "Memories"...

Gifted lady, this is superb!!

Mysteria
Deputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Laureate
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328
British Columbia, Canada
11 posted 2004-06-18 09:28 PM


I actually heard you this time, and it was simply beautiful.  Lady of images you are amazing.  I have to crack you up though, remember me shopping in the train station there? We had a good time Liz, I miss ya.  One day I will put an entirely serious comment on your poems I promise.
GG
Member Elite
since 2002-12-03
Posts 3532
Lost in thought
12 posted 2004-06-22 08:48 AM


Oh my... this is nothing less than stunning.
I don't know how you did this,
but you do...
and I'm sure glad!

Always, Alyssa

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
                  Joyce kilmer

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