Three Days in Gotham

I am an outline done by an amateur hand.
The city welcomes me with its countless attractions,

But my identity dissolves by the activity and grandeur of its streets.
I am a voyeur, struggling to glimpse into the lives of others.
What are their drives, what are the connecting threads?
Is there a unity that makes this city run,
Or is its unity a myriad of disjointed pieces?

I try it on like a bold new hat design in a local boutique –
With uncertainty, curiousity, and skeptical appraisal.
Does it fit? Does it bring out my features or make them obscured?
I linger by the mirror but the clerk points at his watch;
It’s time to leave.


I search for shape, depth, colour, texture to add to the rough draft.
Right now, I won’t fill out the sketch here.
Here the intermittent lines will remain intangible.
Here, at best, I will be an abstract painting of questionable quality.