These Walks

Bob, , ,

Beauty stuck in the throat, like a throttled moon
Vanguarding over the cut-out cityscape.

Summed in vastness, put to the feet, over and over
On pavement, down alleys, along railroad tracks,
Passing through railway yards, soliciting abandoned fields.

Ringing along the barbwire fences, and seeing graffiti hold its
Breath as the city curls up into dusk, into dark, blinks
Over the edge of stars.

A timelessness between time, a door where there is no proof.

Such beauty could pinch together an event horizon.
These solitary meanderings of star-stuffed pockets.

24 thoughts on “These Walks”

  1. Beautifully written! Your use of vivid imagery brings the reader on a journey through the city to experience the beauty around us. I especially loved the line “a timelessness between time, a door where there is no proof.” Can you share what inspired you to write this poem and how you developed the concept of capturing beauty in the midst of urban life?

    y. e

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    1. Thank you so much! As far as inspiration, I don’t know exactly what to say. I do spend a lot of time walking around in the city I love in. That definitely inspires me. Glad you liked it!

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  3. What a walk! I really like how you manage to carry the reader with you through the land/cityscape, weaving in and out of some remarkable thoughts and images. “Beauty stuck in the throat, like a throttled moon”! Right down to a pocket full of star! Awesome Bob.

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  6. Holy mackeral Bob, do you ever have a grasp of the English language! Remarkable. I had to look up the word “vanguarding” and I’m glad I did! What a tremendous way to kick off a poem named “These walks”……the image of beauty stuck in the throat as we, the walkers, the army march through town. I’m reminded of that French writer – Sartre, who said in his book called Nausea that we can will ourselves happy or in this case, in your poem, find beauty. And you even provide a glimpse of where this beauty can be found, “On pavement, down alleys, along railroad tracks, Passing through railway yards….” and then on you go with more places, and that bullet ending – “star stuffed pockets” like we’re squirrels gathering and burying acorns, the beauties we’ve discovered to be revisited on a dull day. Super work Bob.

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    1. I don’t know what it is about walking along rail road tracks. Maybe this is a throw back from another era. But it is just something lost and beautiful about it. Today in the NY Times is an article all about walking, about the authors and poets who find inspiration walking. Really a good read. I just got back from a couple of hours walking. Felt good to get out. I’m really glad you liked this one. I’m going to drink some earl grey tea ( I drink this cause Picard did…I’m that much of a nerd) and listen to Lord Huron album Lonesome Dreams.

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      1. I think you’re right about railroad tracks being a throwback from another era. I also like the way tracks angle into the sky, in both directions, and who knows where they are going? I’ve hopped one train in my life, from the west side of montreal island to the east. I remember being scared, but so relieved when I pulled myself onto the train and feeling the motion of it all. I imagined what it would be like if I kept going and tried the hobo lifestyle for a while, soup kitchens, odd jobs, town to town, but instead I jumped off 15 minutes later and walked back to my apartment, probably drank crappy beer, and daydreamed of being a hobo.

        I see that Picard also likes to drink at the bar on the Starfleet, apparently a good place to find out that you have a son. Those changelings are inspiring. Reminds me that I can do it tomorrow at work. I can make some of the fake smiles I will be forced to make, become another person, for a few hours anyway. I can changeling!

        I kind of feel like a nerd too, still collecting baseball cards and all, but it’s cool to get into the world that way, to like something practical. Gets me out of my head and the dead end questions. Sometimes I think I should take a class on electronics and become an electrician. That might keep me busy and focused and happier.

        My mom gave me her password to the NY Times so I’ll be able to read that article on walking. Thanks for mentioning it.

        And Lord Huron album Lonesome Dreams. I’ll have to check it out. Actually, I’m gonna put it on right now. Thanks. I’ve heard that first song – Ends of the Earth. The guy’s voice sounds like Jackson Brown, but the sound is way more spacey, dreamlike. I like spacey and dreamlike.

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      2. That’s awesome you’ve hopped a train. I’ve always wanted to do that. I dreamed of being a hobo too. I grew up with a rail road just past my backyard. It was so close (living in the city you have a tiny yard) that at night it would shake the house as it sped past. To an 8 year old, that was special.

        Work can make one feel like a changeling. And so can most of the interactions we have. Which is depressing…maybe?

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      3. I read that article on walking in the NY Times. I loved all the literary references. I think I’ll re-read Thoreau and inspired by you, I’m gonna get into Whitman too. I have the Leaves of Grass and Selected Prose in a thick paperback. I’m gonna try and tackle some of it this spring and summer.

        That’s interesting that you grew up near the railroad and the house was shaking. I wonder if that’s why you like trains and tracks and yards so much? We had tracks at the little league field. It was cool because they were behind the left field fence, up on a little hill, and every once in a while some guy would hit a ball up there or over the tracks. I never did. I wish I did.

        Anyway, sorry to babble on here. It’s your fault because you bring up great points. Hee hee.

        I was thinking more about the Changelings today. There are a few players in the history of baseball who played all nine positions in the same game, probably for the circus novelty of it all, but it’s still pretty cool and kind of Changeling like.

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      4. Wow. I would love to know who played all nine positions. And when the last time that happened. How cool is that.

        I never hit a homerun. At least, not over the fence. Maybe some bad fielding led to an inside the park HR. To hit one over the fence onto the rail road tracks would have been a dream.

        Have fun reading Leave of Grass. I try to read it once a year. Or most of it.

        Thoreau wrote a small book about walking. This is the link: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1022. It’s really good.

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      5. I think there’s been a few who played all 9 positions, the most memorable one Bert Campaneris, maybe because he was the first one? I’m not sure, but it’s pretty great.

        Thanks Bob for the link to Thoreau! I’m looking forward to reading him and Whitman’s Leaves of Grass this spring and summer and hopefully tomorrow morning too.

        Great thing about wordpress….sharing thoughts and ideas with awesome people.

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  7. The beauty of this world is often hidden, yet it’s always there waiting to be discovered. Thank you for reminding us to keep our eyes open and seek out the magic that exists in the spaces between what we know and what we have yet to discover.

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  8. Well, this is lovely! You’ve really captured a sense of eerie night silence, the kind you come across when walking around places oft deserted but rendered beautiful by the moment. I especially love the first and last stanzas and the line: “Such beauty could pinch together an event horizon.”

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