Plain & Simple

I love waking and seeing a 
blank wall. Revelations feed 
off time. When I first glimpse
time, I feel it, my mouth waters. 

Then the sun appears, shooting 
a long, slender golden insight
that lengthens across the wall.
suddenly arriving at the corner.
to reflect. 

I am breathless; the room 
modulates, a whiteboard.
I am wounded by the bright 
sliver, as if bleeding from
love, and leap from the bed.

I have tried this in cities; it 
doesn’t work. The spark of sun
barred from the lower floors
loses its edge to the canyons,
is bullied by the task 
of monetizing imagination.  

I used to dream of the ideal 
city. Today I know it is wholly
imagined. There are bursts of 
inspiration and ideas clad in
new clothes, traces of my hungry
conviction that I am victimized
by too much. There are must-sees 
on every block. Envy strikes the
endless must-sees, and well hidden 
must-dos.  

Instead, the city is a subject to be 
inhabited and studied. But then 
I asked is this my role? Am I one 
who only sees, observes, and 
watches? 

I can feed the meter space to
amplify what I see, but space to 
dream rents by the hour and must
be vacated by the end of the 
week to make room for the 
next new idea flying in from 
the West Coast on upfront money.
  
Objectifying the new, old cities 
lock out and down ideas that 
stand up and look away, ignoring 
the dense underbrush of competition.

A new idea may invoke passion, 
or blinding light but ideas 
are fragile and need devoted
champions to care.  An idea yearns
for time, while impetuous cities 
eat time for breakfast, and break
down the doors that protect it.
 
Running in the park was
no jog, no easy lope, for
those who ran, were there
to win, to challenge and goad
while battering fitness to
a pulp. The reminder on
their wrists heckles, pinging
about the morning bagel and
a meeting at nine o’clock
sharp, be early.

So grab a bite, travel fast,
book the express elevator
and be the first to arrive.
Ideas follow and may be 
late, for they take the long
route through the park and
sit idly by, to help someone
understand why they are lost
and wondering about clouds.

The challenge: get that 
on the wall, uploaded, in the 
pipeline, wrapped and shipped.

There’s a limit to the utility of 
seeing. It takes a while to recognize 
to discover and imagine, then
realize the idea, criticize, value 
reality and put on the finishing 
touches. That’s what I want to do.

We can’t afford an exact place, 
an exact desk, atelier or workshop. 
We can only afford to make do. 
Once the idea plants, I roll out
time and get to work.

I have wandered endless avenues 
have seen what other people do.
Dreams persist.  We must follow
in the space of imagination, 
and work in free space on 
unscheduled time.

2025