Dallas From the Distance

I wrote this poem while driving through Dallas and seeing how ugly the city is. I apologize in advance to people from Dallas.

Only from the distance

            bumping along the highway,

            could one truly appreciate Dallas

            a new city built by new lords

            who sent their great scrapers skyward

            and hide behind the bleeding clouds.

 

One could be fooled

            beneath the shadows

            with one or two towers in view.

            One could stare, dumbfounded, upward,

            and marvel at man’s greatness,

            and be pleased with Dallas.

 

But, from the distance,

            one can see the gaudy, glass giants;

            each so opposed to the other

            in style, width, and form,

            but each violently driven into the ground

            city blocks apart.

 

Each grand edifice corrodes the soul,

            they bury museums and libraries,

            their lights steal the stars from the night,

            while they raise banks and insurance

            and loans or nothing at all

            upon their altars, demanding worship.

 

But, in the deepest reds of dusk,

            when each of the giants’ faces

are cast in shadow, one could imagine

the Dallas as it was meant to be

and appreciate the city

from the distance of the mind’s eye.

             

 

           

            

Author's Note

Only after writing the poem did I learn that the Dallas skyline was once voted the best in the world, so my opinion is going to be very unpopular.