Christopher Herndon

The Glare

“I’m trying to describe to her how beautiful the sunlight is when it strikes a particular skyscraper in the late afternoon, but without using the words beautiful, sunlight, skyscraper, or late afternoon.” - Mark Leyner, My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist

The steel and glass in architecture is
A checkered mirror of the blaze that streams from sky,
A bright, tall beacon which no one could miss.
They shade their eyes from glare off windows high,
And as it shines onto the sidewalk and the drains,
The people with their trash will stop to look
To the orb reflected in the smooth, still pane
With luster from stars the building took.
Its silent and immovable façade
Attempts an imitation of the sun
Towards which some pedestrians will nod,
But come sunset the image must be done.
The building’s face shines with fire and glare
But eyes numb to the beauty cannot care.




[TABLE OF CONTENTS, LHS CLASS OF 2009 EDITION]

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