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1
Amsterdam
The air, warm with the scent of midsummer
Clung softly to the skin, like clean silk sheets;
While couples dined and talked under cover
And a man, while smoking, argued his receipts,
The sun hung low and set the scene with red
Between the renaissance shadows of old
Buildings that made up the town’s streets, and spread
Like a bloodied flood that glistened gold;
Illuminating bands of coiling smoke
That revealed themselves from the cigarettes,
Tracing the flow of gossipers spoken
In hushed tones with waving hands, of regrets,
Born the evening before, among others,
When they said they did this or did not that
And had said some-thing but meant another;
The usual evening exchange; tit-for-tat –
It all gently merged to a smooth buzz
Which pervaded but did not overwhelm
The calm scene in that relaxed city square
Where I reclined with friends without a care
While the night-time crept up upon the day
In its shawl of crimson and mottled ochre,
And waiters served customers an array
Of spirits to whet the glut of the poker –
Players who staked their night beside a young pair
Of hearts not yet ravaged by dint of man;
Who dined with guiltless smiles without a care
For the poor girl perched upon a divan
Behind a curtained window, readying
Herself for another night of blank work,
Some smokers emerged and clung, steadying,
To black burnished bollards amid the murk
Of hours spent dazed, puffing on scented leaves
That hung about their collars and red eyes
Which, dilated by dark, hid beneath sleeves
That sought to shield them from the glimmering sky;
Now mellowing to a regal purple,
Crystallised diamonds gleaming above
Our first drinks of the night, three cheap beers apiece
As dinner was served with wine of cerise
Candles flickered with the conversation;
Each word a breath of life into the night –
Made exquisite by inebriation;
Darker and still, each light shining brighter,
The melody of the voices weaving
As chords over the beating of the crowd
Drifting before me, barely perceiving
The dealers touting their choice wears aloud;
Cocaine if you wish for a certain thrill,
Or Ecstasy perhaps for your pleasure,
A taster of each with the best of will
For any customer with the treasure
To pay for a gram – they sold nothing less,
But ignored they were, as I watched it all,
Fresh-lit spliff in hand, and wine the excess
That marked this city, for we were enthralled
By the dazzling shadows from which emerged
A sullen man, with a darkened aspect
Browsing the windows – that market of sex,
F’faceless body that recalled his ex
And they danced, those girls, as we deigned to stroll
Along the crystal-black backs of the snaking
Canals; Hades' portrait of the city’s soul –
Buildings shattering with the breaking
Shards of light distorted by the chaos,
Of the arching waters run-through with faces
That curled and inverted, painted across
Innocent waters, that bore no traces
Of mankind’s delights, so often called sins,
Denied the beauty found in expression,
Instead left to fester beneath the skins
Where beauty gives way to dark obsession;
The air was now closer, still without cold,
Made immediate by the pulse of life
As we came, all befuddled, to behold
A small boat moored alone, so with a knife
The rope was undone, we clambered aboard
And from the water we laughed and were free;
Serenity came close, and took my mind,
The exquisite city hummed on behind
"
It all gently merged to a smooth buzz
Which pervaded but did not overwhelm
The calm scene in that relaxed city square"
That summed it up for me! Really enjoyed this, thanks