It's oh so quiet...

Although I am nothing if not a city person, sometimes the city is a huge ball of dirt, noise, rubble, stress and confusion. Lately, I've been noticing more and more how much of my city is broken up, torn out, ripped apart and crushed to pieces.
But tonight, I walked through the fancy neighborhood, along still waters and stately homes, and for a short while, I found a silence and a grace that I'd missed for too long. I may be a stranger in these parts, someone whom the minor celebrity that I passed looks upon with weary apprehension. But this is still my city, and these paving stones are still stepped on by my feet. I own this quiet, I possess the lights reflecting in the canal.
And then, of course, I rounded a corner and the honking, the stench and the ugliness returned. Don't get me wrong, I see the chaotic beauty in all of this, too, but tonight, I was very glad to find peace in the bustling metropolis.