In the City

In the city
the night sky
if you even bother to look at it
has no Milky Way
Five hundred billion neighbors
murdered by electricity
Or home
in the dark
It makes no difference
 
You're alone.
 
In the city
when,
or if, you hear a drumbeat
and you bother to listen
you hear your own heartbeat
You hear the heartbeat of your tribe,
joining your own
all drumming together  
in ritual communication
perhaps celebration
 
Diaphanously aware,
you decide to join a drumming cirlcle
a good approximation
an ancient memory rekindled
but come tomorrow
something is missing
 
You're alone
 
In the city,
no one sees you cry
Your tears fall on carpets
on polished hardwood floors
What is meant to be a call for help,
is unseen
unheeded
You might as well not cry at all
if makes no difference
 
You are alone
 
In the city
there are millions like you
Some unpartnered
Some with happy families
Some pack their lives
with a galaxy of diversions
but none can see the Milky Way
They're disconnected
 
Alone