Friday, May 1, 2009: On the Street….Sydney Winter, Sydney

The Alley

Between buildings, gathering garbage and weeds,
The alley provides passage, a shortcut that leads

To sunlight, glistening cars, front doors.
The alley’s dim, full of things to ignore:

Dented, wet cardboard, plastic bags
Swollen like demon balloons, scraps and rags

And those that live in it. Dickens would feel at home
In the soot and trash. The smell of what we’ve thrown

Away offends us, but we tolerate
The stink because we’re only on our way,

Passing through. Walk swiftly, and join
the pedestrian public, safe as the faces of coins.