An artist sketches people passing by,
stopping now and then to take in the scene
of a crowded urban market, the carts and shops
full of trinkets, souvenirs, useless items.

The buildings are *****, years of pollution
painted over storefronts. A cable runs
along the street, weaving in and out
of the tops of the pollution-painted buildings.

A woman puts her cigarette out on the litter-strewn
sidewalk, already plastered with scraps of paper,
bits of garbage. The sun creeps slowly behind
the clouds, shining dully over the street market.

The artist takes this in, captures the dirt,
the decay, and the beauty on paper.
She listens, the sound of sellers
and shoppers fading into a steady hum.

A college student on a bike weaves
in, around, and through the crowd,
braking when he reaches the intersection,
then continuing down the avenue.

The artist flips to a new page,
trying to perfect the emotions of
tourists passing through shops, nervously
buying souvenirs from a foreign vendor.

When she’s finished with this sketch,
she packs up carefully, folding
her notepad shot and then into a bag,
and blends into the street scene.