Urban Monologue

From Still Life, Three Worlds by Dai Pan (潘岱). Poem 06.

Like flowers on a balcony, I gaze at the wall.
The city's rhythm makes me feel so small.

Hides under layers of vibrant green,
A world of concrete, cold and keen.

It is red, merely red, a signal through the sprawl.
On my path to store, I was trapped in an urban hall.

The sunlight remains as tenderness shifts away,
Steps sound like pendulum marking the end of day.
Bearing the gaze from websites,
My skin turns to transparency, nothing left to say.

This city frames me in a painting,
Where everyone stood, playing the same game.
Red, green, yellow, realities we fail to name,
Colors of signals guiding us through streets the same.

We've failed to grasp any words in this city game,
And his monologue continues, without an urban claim.

Cite as: Dai Pan, "Urban Monologue," Three Worlds, Still Life, poem 06, 2025. https://daipan.ink/still-life/urban-monologue

Still Life 06

Urban Monologue

Like flowers on a balcony, // I gaze at the wall.
The city's rhythm makes // me feel so small.

Hides under layers of vibrant green,
A world of concrete, // cold and keen.

It is red, merely red, // a signal through the sprawl.
On my path to store, // I was trapped in an urban hall.

The sunlight remains as tenderness shifts away,
Steps sound like pendulum // marking the end of day.
Bearing the gaze from websites,
My skin turns to transparency, // nothing left to say.

This city frames me in a painting,
Where everyone stood, // playing the same game.
Red, green, yellow, // realities we fail to name,
Colors of signals guiding us // through streets the same.

We've failed to grasp any words // in this city game,
And his monologue continues, // without an urban claim.