#citylife
The city doesn’t sleep.
It tosses and turns
and doom scrolls till dawn.
Borrowed hours and burnt coffee
have a habit of going unnoticed.
Noon is too loud for feelings.
Nobody reads poetry at brunch.
The shadows
are only just beginning
to appear
when she realizes
She’s been tired for years.
May 21
May 21, 2026 at 8:40 AM UTC
The pawn sits
Twenty-six stories up
Outside my window
That is nailed shut--
Watching, without eyes,
Sensing, with its stone pores
Absorbing everything that floats
Up from the steam from the street grates to the smell of engines laced
With the sweet scent of rotting garbage, all the bags lined up
On the sidewalk next to scurrying
And hurrying, bustle and hustle,
Self-cares a bubble around each
Individual, at twenty-six stories,
They are ants.
They travel throughout the deeply cut man-made divots in the earth and pray to the buildings that
Scrape the sky that their purpose
Is shared, that the buildings promise
To hold their alliance, to stand tall
And not fall like domino's in a game of the hereafter.
The streetlamps let us peek
At the night life that starts to seep
Out of the shadows of the neat
And tidy crossroads of the
urban peak of immaculate synergy.
If you squint, you see the cracks,
The weary, the unfortunate, the left behind dragging their cares
With them, the lingering smell of ammonia and fear, the ambition slapped from their worried bones, their tired hands outstretched
For any kindness, any recognition
That they are still an 'us'--
part of the human flora that blooms
Even when their roots are in a crack of the sidewalk pavement.
Vendors, senders, returning
To their marked blocking spot
Down Broadway, even the taxis
Feel rehearsed, pedicabs peddle,
The fake designer purses' buckles
Glinting, glaring, the tourists
Picking--staring, the natives
Mumbling, shuffling--daring to
Brave the underground
Where the pawn no longer sees,
Taking the people away to places,
Then regurgitating them from
The depths, flooding up
from some other
Hole in the ground.
Years ago,
From this spot,
Construction workers sat
Nine hundred feet up
On a cross beam suspended
With metal rope,
Eating their lunches,
Having a smoke,
Near the new home of
The Pawn,
Before it understood
What pigeons were.
Before it was stained
With flying excrement,
Beaten with heavy rains,
Accosted at all hours
With the sound of horns
And traffic and people.
This is the Pawn's city,
Watching over it with
Cleverly disguised senses,
Not a gargoyle hanging
Over a precipice,
But a silent narrator,
Absorbing the culture,
On the twenty-sixth floor,
From which it never moves,
And calls this place
Home.
Apr 11
Apr 11, 2026 at 8:55 AM UTC
A large part of my life
was spent climbing trees
and working in the fields.
Life was slow,
but it was enough for me.
When the fields stayed behind
and I stepped into a world
full of unknown faces,
I found people judging
clothes and appearances.
A strange feeling rose inside me
whose name I did not know.
No one ever taught me
this word.
A life of joy,
peace,
and small mistakes
slowly turns
into a silence
I do not understand.
Mar 14
Mar 14, 2026 at 12:41 PM UTC
I always dream of a glamorous city,
where the lights glitter brighter
than the silver on my ears,
where beauty is a song on every tongue
and silence lingers like air.
For now, I chase my goals,
like a bird darting after a worm—
restless, ambitious, unafraid.
Because that city waits for me,
the place I will one day call home.
Sep 28, 2025
Sep 28, 2025 at 4:00 PM UTC
Riding the subway
I realize there are so many people
so many people, really
I wonder if all of them
are okay
Aug 11, 2025
Aug 11, 2025 at 11:52 AM UTC
Я не играю — я Живу,
Сказал однажды Роми Майерс.
В приёмной жизни и в аду,
Где каждый день — и бой без правил.
Марсель, и снова по утру,
Я вдохновляюсь с этим миром.
Я не играю — я Живу.
Сегодня. Здесь. Сейчас. Спасибо.
👉 Bloch-Bauer & Adele · 2020 · Signature Privée
Aug 4, 2025
Aug 4, 2025 at 9:33 PM UTC
Она рыдала в туалете
Гостиницы «Континенталь» —
Её ебали те и эти,
И вдруг себя ей стало жаль.
И вдруг однажды на рассвете
Она решила полюбить,
Но, как листали те и эти,
Никак уже ей не забыть.
👉 Bloch-Bauer & Adele · 2020 · Signature Privée
Aug 1, 2025
Aug 1, 2025 at 9:03 PM UTC
Так хороша, когда оттрахана
И фотки шепчут этот взгляд.
Давно мужчины так не ахали —
Все как один и — невпопад.
Забыла мышка по-предательски
Себя в пыли библиотек —
И понеслася по касательной:
Любить нельзя ебать навек.
👉 Bloch-Bauer & Adele · 2020 · Signature Privée
Aug 1, 2025
Aug 1, 2025 at 8:02 PM UTC
Любовница или наёмница,
На подсосе — верная женщина.
Суровых будней сподвижница —
Она рядом, тихо играется.
В игрушки свои наивные,
Что Воин Света подкинул ей —
Конфета на палке, липкая...
Иди на хуй, милая девочка.
👉 Bloch-Bauer & Adele · 2020 · Signature Privée
Aug 1, 2025
Aug 1, 2025 at 7:32 PM UTC
The city hums a fractured tune tonight,
A discordance that seeps into my bones.
I walk these streets, bathed in electric light,
And feel a chill that’s deeper than the stones.
We built this world, with clever, grasping hands,
A towering cage of steel and brittle glass.
But something broke, beyond all our commands,
And shattered peace, like shadows quickly pass.
Anxious eyes, charged with desperate hunger for something unnamable,
Reflect a collective yearning for connection and meaning.
Humanity feels adrift, lost in a spiritual fog, disconnected from its inherent goodness and moral compass,
Drifting further from its ideals with each passing moment.
And all I feel is weary, heavy dread,
To watch us stumble, lost inside our heads.
Jul 28, 2025
Jul 28, 2025 at 12:53 AM UTC
Sitting in the subway.
All fix their eyes on screens —
What does this sight convey?
Is this all that their lives mean?
Jan 4, 2025
Jan 4, 2025 at 8:44 AM UTC
I felt so alone.
every place I went. every place I stopped to visit.
Seemed off.
I followed the noise of everything around me
in the hope of finding something familiar.
I rounded corners, crossed mazes of streets.
I didn't feel like I belonged to any of these places.
mostly filled with strange looks. anxious behavior.
still, I walked.
big city life is too busy.
always somewhere to be. always something to do.
it's easy to lose track of time.
keeping up with the next thing to do, the next place to be.
I felt so alone.
my walk becoming more unease. my shoulders more tense.
nothing really felt warm.
everyone felt cold, lost in the hustle of busy feet.
Shoulders almost bumping into each other,
Cars screeching their horn almost running into the other.
the sanctuary of what I really needed seemed far away.
still, I walked.
meeting the avenue of your eyes. you.
you seemed different.
far different than any place I’ve been.
I felt like I’ve been here before, or at least
Would remember if I’ve dreamed about it.
I didn't need to look at a menu to know what I wanted.
there wasn't a question of where I’d sit, or if there'd be
a seat by the window.
No remembering if I needed to stop at an ATM or if I had the right
Amount of money. I felt at ease.
I immediately knew what I wanted and where I wanted to be.
if I did continue to walk, it would be into tomorrow.
so that I could come back here.
a patron whose face would take no time to remember.
when the weeks turn into years.
I’ll remember to tell you; this is how I got home
Jul 9, 2024
Jul 9, 2024 at 5:29 PM UTC
My city...
I was here before it was even one,
my toys are older
than the high-rise buildings.
Yet all of my oldest dreams
have long been gone,
this is where new people
from far-away are dreaming.
People dream to visit here
even for a day,
I can't count the years
I've been trying to escape.
People travel here
to have a sip of coffee,
even the taste of water here
can tell that I am sick.
In the inner city,
while everyone takes photographs,
I try my best to walk
with my shoulders not dropped.
In the chic cafes
where others strike a pose,
I knew I never wanted more,
I had my dose.
My city,
that many people dream
of visiting and living in,
why, then there's me
who's here and feeling livid in.
My now-larger-city
that still feels like a small town,
I feel suffocated,
as if all my life I'm in a tight gown.
Oct 21, 2022
Oct 21, 2022 at 1:21 AM UTC
Open me in half
And you'll find plastic in my lungs
And concrete in my stomach.
It's good to know
After I'm gone
You'll still linger around,
Even if you're just a corpse.
Tell me we are no longer human;
We are consumers,
We are citizens.
And all the angels know,
And all the devils know,
We won't change any time soon.
I want to hurt you,
I want you to hurt me.
I want to curl my hands round your neck
And see the life run away from you
Like you made me run away too.
I felt your shadow while we were making love
And I cried.
I felt your shadow
And I wonder if you can feel my heartbeat.
I'm just as lost as you,
But we all forget
Everyone else is hurting too;
That makes it easy
To open people in half.
Jun 13, 2022
Jun 13, 2022 at 1:18 PM UTC
Meeting you gave me the permission
I sought in myself.
To get out & explore in a sense
that it feels like home.
Being with you, the best idea yet.
Small petite buildings, towering
buildings.
Everyday feels brand new
I don't feel the need to stay cooped
up inside a room.
With you I want to get out &
explore and sleep when there is
time.
I've never been to a place like
this before.
I've never tasted food this good
before & for once,
There are no distractions, no other
place to be.
The lights that shine from your eyes
The thoughts that travel fast like cars.
I've never been to a city like this
before, the best idea yet.
When people ask me where I've been
I call your name.
When friends ask me where I'm going
I call your name.
And I can't wait until I get back there
Jun 11, 2022
Jun 11, 2022 at 6:33 PM UTC
I had forgotten
The **** steam from a sewer grate
Nature’s heat lamp
And the regulars you see
When you’re walking the streets
And I hope they can find a clean mattress.
Apr 1, 2022
Apr 1, 2022 at 1:26 PM UTC
The sun has set on another day, the sky settling a darker grey.
The Moon has not yet graced us with its' presence.
The nearby businesses, shedding light, fluorescent.
Illuminating the water in yellow and blue columns.
Like candles flickering in a church, in a scene, oh so solemn.
People are walking home from work, some meeting for a drink or perhaps something to eat.
Swans are gathering in a group, taking food from a human hand, such trust rarely given.
I am lost in my thoughts as I watch the scene before me on the still waters, and just listen.
Listen to the sounds of the end of the day.
Dec 23, 2021
Dec 23, 2021 at 6:57 AM UTC
The place where life becomes captivity,
Some people call it a big city.
May 17, 2021
May 17, 2021 at 8:30 AM UTC
I remember these early times
The first
Downtown in the cold
Lights out.
Adults living like heathens
Teens on the streets
My inspiration
The freedom which comes
from taps on bricks
cold air to put
you right back in your body
Frightening.
It was freedom nonetheless
Oct 19, 2020
Oct 19, 2020 at 11:11 AM UTC
What a city!
What tales to tell!
A pizza boy crossing the street
impatient, tired features
clicking of heels on the stairs
their elbows touch
strangers from different worlds
intimate for a fleeting moment
Wailing of an ambulance
crashing with the seductive smell
from the corner coffeeshop
A girl flirting with the waiter
while round the block
at a divorce court
one fairy tale ends
Yesterday's newspaper
left on the bus seat
a homeless man in the park
humming quietly
the city has many faces
Raindrops on your office window -
is it a _life_ what's happening out there?
Aug 30, 2020
Aug 30, 2020 at 10:33 AM UTC
Welcome abroad Thameslink.
Grab a camera a wink at
Shaftsbury’s bootylicious dancers.
Pen in gear and know the answers to
the parade of pub quizzes.
Let your strands of raw seismic frizzes scream
on bonds lightening Thames RIB.
The Louis Vuitton wallet ‘on fleek’ for that crib inside
the Shards slender diamond belly.
Feet stay in groove with that Kidston welly against
the roaring mud at the wireless festival.
Pre dem soulful struts of de Notting hill carnival spicy
spirits, nani wines and **** kisses.
Safari hunt watch out for those hisses on
centre stage of the primeval in the zoo.
Grab my hand and come on boo steady
your bags and steady your feet on the thrilling
ride of Oxford street.
Reminisce its entirety and say goodbye.
As we take in our final view on the London eye.
Justine Louisy
Copyright ©Justine Louisy 2016
All Rights Reserved
Jul 3, 2020
Jul 3, 2020 at 2:19 AM UTC