18th and K:Kaleidoscope

by Jim Putnam

The bright spring sun silhouettes power brokers
With coiffured tresses, leather briefs, and cell phones
Striding imperiously through swirls
Of gently flowing gold and fuchsia dresses, as
Red and chartreuse lycra clad couriers
Startle tourists in shorts and message T’s.

Jackhammers staccato a counterpoint
To drivers horns harassing pedestrians.
Indian, Caribbean, kente vendors
Hawk their treasures to the masses.
Conversations drift through clarity.
Laughter sings above the cacophony.

No pungent foot-longÕs aroma, soft pretzel
Slathered with mustard, or even putrid truck emissions
Can conquer the strong message of a cigar.
A sudden assault of perfume amuses,
Rarely, a womanÕs delicate scent stirs
Memories or fantasies.

Escalators descend to metro malls, where
Chandeliers glow above the sales associate.
Cinnamon buns and gourmet burgers exhale invitations.
Muscles, straining sweat stained denim,
Declare control by the steel and pipes
Beneath the polished marble panels.

Below the mall, line colors give direction.
Power brokers, mall crawlers, tourists, and
Harried chaperones with broods of kids
Surge aboard, striving to hold to privacy.
With closing chime and motor whine,
The train briefly paints the tunnel red.

Imbued in all are ethereal rhythms of
Pictures, media voices, and loverÕs
Whispers reduced to electron pulses.
They permeate the streets, malls, and tunnels.
Searching for a tuned receiver,
To bring their message to the light.

Colors swirl, people touch, cell to cell,
Jostle, then adjust to one another.
Living, loving, shifting, patterns
In streets and subways, shops and trains,
They paint a many hued mosaic,
Refracting the ever present light.

About the Poet

Jim Putnam lives in Chapel Hill, NC. He celebrated his 64th birthday in May, and has had a full, diverse life. In 21-plus years of enlisted USAF service, he was a security policeman, a military training instructor, computer programmer, and recruiter. Since retiring he has been a computer consultant in various industries.

Among many hobbies, he is a hand quilter. His quilt entry in the 2001 NC State Fair won best in class and best in show. He reads and writes some poetry.