Behind the Stage

The city puts on its prettiest face
for tourists,
polishes up the place
and invites them
to see the sights
the dazzling lights
and the dizzying heights
of downtown.

I love that show,
but I like to go
behind the stage to see
how it works.

One of the perks
of living here
is getting to know
where the warehouses are,
where the railroad yards sprawl,
where the people in grittier jobs
gather away from the snobs,
although, truth to tell,
they can be rather snobby as well,
but, of course,
in reverse.

The empty spaces
also call
to me,
flat wasted fields,
where something big once towered
a factory perhaps,
long ago collapsed
and bulldozed away.

I stand,
random rubble at my feet,
bricks, glass, concrete,
and weeds,
mere temporary residents
soaking up the sun
in this bleak and empty lot,
which in twenty years
may be a happening spot.