Nowness

I dare to stand here
but I dare not look down
if I look up, look out
who knows what I might see?

These views, these skies
have been requisitioned
and I am neither rich man
nor bird of prey.

I have forgotten the seasons.
The different times of day
subsumed by LED street glare
and the blue screen glow
with its empty promise:
we are never alone
down in the city where there is
no Off Switch.

Nowness

I come here to make the noise stop
to escape the watchers
but night will come soon
and I will fall
if I do not place myself
fully in the Nowness
of the changing light
and the nesting sounds that spill out
to touch
the city’s highest points.

Let me feel how my heels
are in contact with my perch
how elation rises from there
rises through my thighs
ripples upwards, along my spine
to settle in my throat
and lift me up
and take me away from here.