Back-Streets

by Harold Acton — a poem card from Justes Mots

A somber urban nocturne depicting monotonous back-streets where isolated lives unfold behind darkened windows, connected only by shared suffering and gossip. Acton conveys alienation and fear through geometric imagery and introspective solitude. This atmospheric poem serves readers experiencing urban loneliness or existential unease.

Patterned interminably, patterned neat
With intervals of oblongs squat and tall.

A full moon dims the stars and here and there
Glints on a bulging square of window-pane.
Soon clinging sodden moistures glut the air
And mists fall heavier than autumn rain.
…

Themes: sympathy · grief · reflection