A Concrete Anthology

• Annika Jorgensen, Grade 10
• Poetry
• 2013

The city is full of concrete paintings,
That hang in hidden galleries of eves.
Amidst cardboard figures and cracked awnings,
They are portraits of a world no one sees.

In places only lost people find,
Dwell the etches of a life we possess.
Monochrome sketches of matte smog and grime,
Decorate realities of excess.

Yet even concrete ghosts have much allure,
Don’t people like their photos all in grey?
Perhaps each scarred alley is truly pure,
And the cardboard figures hopeful in a way.

Outside are glittered buildings of respect,
Within they sell lives promised free of pain.
Yet nowhere does the truth truly reflect,
Like the concrete paintings hanging in the rain.