Grim-faced and forbidding
Their faces closed tight
An angular mass of New Yorkers
Pacing in rhythm
Race the oncoming night
They chase through the streets of Manhattan
Head-first humanity
Pause at a light
Then flow through the streets of the city 

They seem oblivious 
To a soft spring rain 
Like an English rain 
So light, yet endless 
From a leaden sky 

The buildings are lost 
In their limitless rise 
My feet catch the pulse 
And the purposeful stride 

I feel the sense of possibilities
I feel the wrench of hard realities
The focus is sharp in the city 

Wide-angle watcher
On life's ancient tales
Steeped in the history of London
Green and Grey washes 
In a wispy white veil
Mist in the streets of Westminster
Wistful and weathered
The pride still prevails
Alive in the streets of the city 

Are they oblivious 
To this quality? 
A quality of light 
Unique to every city's streets 

Pavements may teem 
With intense energy 
But the city is calm 
In this violent sea