Metropolis

The smell, the noise, the traffic is too much.
Streets are dirty; people are rude.
I am terrified.

This is the heartless Metropolis of my imagination.

Pushing, hurrying, throbbing.
No rest. No peace.

I have no place in this Metropolis.
I cannot go there; I cannot be there.

Culture is overshadowed by crowding.
Daring eclipsed by danger.
Innovation obscured by insolence.

Tugboats, taxis, ocean liners, airplanes —
endless turbulence, constant confusion.
Brash, bossy, brazen.

Executive suites and slums.
Limousines and subways.
All that’s right and all that’s wrong with America.