Grim-faced and forbidding Their faces closed tight An angular mass of New Yorkers Pacing in rhythm Race the oncoming night They chase through the streets of Manhattan Head-first humanity Pause at a light Then flow through the streets of the city They seem oblivious To a soft spring rain Like an English rain So light, yet endless From a leaden sky The buildings are lost In their limitless rise My feet catch the pulse And the purposeful stride I feel the sense of possibilities I feel the wrench of hard realities The focus is sharp in the city Wide-angle watcher On life's ancient tales Steeped in the history of London Green and Grey washes In a wispy white veil Mist in the streets of Westminster Wistful and weathered The pride still prevails Alive in the streets of the city Are they oblivious To this quality? A quality of light Unique to every city's streets Pavements may teem With intense energy But the city is calm In this violent sea