Towers
the physics of towers always baffled me
glass and steel—all windows—all sides
poplars in the breeze bend but don’t
break
each branch knows exactly where to go
geometry in all things reflected—except
perhaps
in the jagged shard of a piece of glass
turned
light means nothing to eyes that remain
dark—
looking inwards always and never out
but this natural math doesn’t work when
you’re
counting calories and the mirror adds
ten pounds
we are consumers in all that we do for
ourselves
covetous eyes greedy for that new piece
of metal
no concept of cost or what was lost in
the hurried
rushing from A to B and so on and so
forth
algorithm—I always thought it was
spelled
rhythm like a song danced out in
numbers
these figures ripple in the sun
glinting blind
and we look down to see the sky in
reflections
Once
they don’t make buildings
to last anymore
he told me
the steel and glass
in geometric joints
will come undone
I cried when I saw
the stained glass
blown out
one thousand years
through flames hold
stone upon stone
but the park where
I once played
is a tower now
