Poem for Berkeley

City lights reflected the stars in my eyes,
    So I left my small town for the city's glitter.
How long did it take before I began to realize
    What little value here my presence held?
Every day I spend in the city,
    Sidewalks get a little narrower
As the buildings close in all around me.

Every day I spend in the city,
    I see blocks of ice disguised as people;
They seem incapable of compassion; incapable of pity.
    I look directly at them.
They look directly through me.
    I am not an individual here, 
Nor should I ever hope to be.

by Jeani Rector

Email: thehorrorzine@gmail.com