Treatment Center
I sit in hospital waiting room.
No one looks happy.
Then I remember
this is a senior facility,
not an emergency room,
which explains
why they look resigned
rather then terrified.
These are not the wealthy
so the services they expect
are minimal,
merely sufficient
to delay conclusion
until the last visit.
City View
Winter in the city
a different picture
without greenery.
Everything is greyer.
After a while
even people are greyer.
Cold winds blow.
Heavy clothes are worn.
The pace is more urgent.
Then it snows.
For a short while
an ermine coat covers
a suddenly elegant cityscape.
But all too quickly
urban soot, emissions
darken the snow,
filthying the streets
no longer lovely
to look at.
The Shattered Calm
A peaceful day in New York City,
bastion of safety in the troubled world.
Tourists explore enticing shops.
Bicyclists take advantage
Of a warm day for a ride.
Pedestrians go for a stroll
delighted to be outside
before the advent of winter.
Suddenly a truck
careens down the street
running down people.
Screams of pain resound,
cries of the terrified
not drowned out
by the roaring engine,
more and more struck
until the truck crashes.
The driver leaps out,
yells ‘Allah akbar’,
is shot down
by responding police,
but not until too many
are killed or wounded
in what politicians call
‘a cowardly attack’,
refusing to acknowledge
the West is engaged
in a clash of civilizations.
