THIS CITY’S ALIVE, BUILDING UPWARD AND OUTWARD

(ГОРОД ЖИВЕТ, РАЗРАСТАЕТСЯ, СТРОИТСЯ)

This city’s alive, building upward and outward.

Brick and glass where once there was sky.

You too are a healthy thing, but health will be wounded;

by the time you think of it, time will run out and go by.

Into the bathroom, bleary-eyed of a morning;

you’ll turn the tap on, hear the bursting stream seethe

with howls, curses, and threats, while in the mirror

a fiery-eyed prophet bares terrifying teeth.