Symphony

by Desiree Abalos

And the curtain falls

Take a bow as the company serves well

Sizzling meat and metal scraping on a charred grill

Shaved ice and passion fruit smoothies

Liquid funk to the left Reggaeton to the right

A few seconds of gangsta rap blaring from an electric blue mustang

The chorus is a choir of gossip, laughter, preaching of Jesus freaks, and catcalls, multilingual

surround sound

“Believe!”, “Hey, mamacita!”, “Sign to help feed the hungry!”, “Eh, como te va?”,

“Coming through!”, “Fuck you!”

Screeching brakes

Cue the symphony of honking, cursing, honking, cursing, honking

Shattered glass

Scattered, spinning bottle caps

Rustling leaves and rippling banners, flags Street sweepers and dumpster trucks

Roaring helicopters overhead Jackhammers, invasive, too loud

Clacking heels, treading boots, sneakers stomp Ambiance, ambulances, police cars

Bicycle bells, kickflipping skateboards Distant sirens

Wheels rolling on uneven pavement an echo of yapping dogs

No better live noise act

It couldn’t possibly be narrowed down to one genre

the wheels are turning, accompanied by the current of the wind

the low rumbling of a sleeping machine, awakened by spotlights

Raising a silver wand, rising with the sun the urban orchestra has now begun

Revealing the shadow of the tuxedo clad conductor, arms raised high

The lights are dim as the curtain rises