Poem: "The Secret Life of Cities"
This poem came out of the January 4, 2011 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from kyleri and eseme. It was sponsored by kyleri. This is another poem in which magical creatures have adapted comfortably to an urban environment.
The Secret Life of Cities
The subways of a city are the secret of its flow
That hold the busy citizens as they go to and fro.
The lines are very intricate; they link the far and near
But what is close can seem quite far -- you can't get there from here.
The focus of the subway is the swift and shining trains
But when they're gone, the dark returns to see that which remains.
The secret life of cities is the subway underground
With mystic creatures thriving where no hunters may be found.
The blind and bat-like dragons hoard lost tokens bright as gold;
The unicorns use sonar horns to navigate their hold.
When thunderstorms send waterfalls to drain beneath the rails,
The sewer-mermaids splash below with alligator tails.
The curving tubes are beautiful, organic in their shape,
A hint of how they came to be an underground landscape:
A subway station never built, but slow and surely grown,
By elves and dwarves in darkness deep, true lovers under stone.