Too often I find myself gliding through my city, not really paying attention to it, too wrapped up in the distraction of whatever it is I’m trying to cross off my to-do list. I don’t travel enough, I know — not nearly enough to satisfy my desire to see more different parts of the world — but then the reasons for that begin solidly with a lack of free time.

I live in one of the largest cities in the US. I know this place fairly well, too, having lived here most of my life. And I have a love-hate relationship with this place, but I’ve come to realize that the other places I’ve spent a lot of time aren’t really places where I can live, not at this point in my life. I don’t want to.

But oh, how I love to visit elsewhere.

Today I’m continuing the theme of poems inspired by place with another one of Adam Holt’s poems, this one somewhat incantatory in nature. (See the one from yesterday here.)

 

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The Sound of Awareness in an East Village Coffee Shop

 

white people white cups reusable cup sleeves
earbuds and silver Apples
tick tick tick
on a high-top countertop
a thousand miles long
awareness happening all around me
tick tick tick
jazz on spotify
moleskine
what’s the wifi?
seated all around me
tick tick tick
hemp around the hottest pipes
steam whistle espresso –
americano in the paper cup,
to the mouth,
through the veins
for the mind
with tinsel on the tabletops and
tick tick tick
#ericgarner #chokehold #ferguson
tick tick tick
retweet repost refill jon stewart
tick tick tick
four dollar americanos + chocolate croissants and
what the hell is that all about anyway
#icantbreathe #blacklivesmatter
tick tick tick
they’re seated in long rows
tick tick tick
white people white cups reusable cup sleeves
earbuds and silver Apples
awareness is an echo chamber
and
hashtags just might save us all and
one more cup before I’m gone and
tick tick tick
tick tick tick
what’s the boy carrying?
tick tick tick
tick tick boom

 

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