I walk a random path through this desert
of concrete and asphalt, an urban nomad,
a caravan of one, with thick-soled shoes
and shoulder bag, who treks arid miles
where myriad people and vehicles
swirl around me like sand, in all seasons,
by day or night, while I pass unnoticed,
listening to jazz from clubs and hymns
from churches, the chatter in schoolyards
and parks, the haggle of markets
and gossip on corners, the stadium cheers
and barroom talk: each oasis of sound
refreshing my spirit as I walk by
on a lone route through trackless terrain.
— Charles Pierre, “Urban Nomad”
from Circle of Time: Poems (New York, Halyard Press, 2020)
posted with permission of Charles Pierre
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Yes, refreshes the spirit. I can relate from my own experience to what this poem describes and says so well.
Charles Pierre’s Circle of Time is “filled with poems of quiet lyricism and great economy” [back cover copy, Circle of Time].
Pierre is the author of five poetry collections. He lives in Manhattan.
— posted by Roger W. Smith