A city on stilettos

P.C :- Sean Robertson

Through the hills,

Admiring newly bloomed flowers opening its eyes wide to the sky,

After a sudden shower of rain,

Encountering a harmless snake or two on the way,

A group of friends,

Hike to school down the hill,

Indulging on wildly grown berries,

And sipping water from a nearby lake,

Amongst thick greens,

And wildlife galore,

My grandma spent her days in school,

Learning things foreign, in lap of nature, through nature.

Through the town,

Admiring the neighbour’s flowers as much as they did their own,

Exchanging seeds of a new plant in town,

Encountering a harmless lizard or two along the way,

A group of siblings,

Walk to school across the road,

Waving to a friendly neighbour or two,

Catching up on an eventful happening in a sleepy town,

Lunch was served hot, while they were back in the noon,

No fancy exercise regimes,

My mother spent her days in school,

Learning things foreign, slowly, steadily, practically, contentedly.

Through the city roads,

On a bicycle hurriedly navigating through traffic,

To be on time,

The pretty flowers on balcony sills,

Chirping of parrots during morning assembly catches no one’s attention,

A mere sight of lizard or a spider scares,

Forget encountering a harmless snake or two,

In time’s command whole of childhood runs,

Eat, sleep, play, time was of essence everywhere,

It was only in Wordsworth’s poetry, the much envied “stand and stare” was encountered,

I spent my days in school thus,

Learning things foreign, fast paced, hurriedly, slightly disconnected from nature.

Through the skyscraper filled gleaming city roads,

Chauffeured on a motor,

Or would it be school from home even then?

Only buildings ,

Fancy lightings, luxury cars,

Faint greenery on fast paced, ever evolving city roads,

Busily admiring a gadget’s latest feature,

Animals, plants only seen on LED screens or Kindle pages,

Talking to a stranger frightening enough,

As much as being concerned about a friend,

Higher than the sky so high, where are we going?

Will I be handing over , “A city on stilettos”, to my daughter?

340 words.

Thoughts :- Skyscrapers to me, look like a city is wearing stilettos and thus the expression.

Acknowledgements :- Thank you Sadje for hosting What do you see challenge #82. The challenge is to draw inspiration from the above picture. For rules please refer here. Thank you all for stopping by and reading.