I looked across the rooftops

I looked across the rooftops

At the city

The spires and office blocks

Apartment buildings

People with heads in the clouds

The entrepreneurs'

Hedgefund managers with portfolios

That were never carried in a satchel

Or tied in red ribbons

Like the briefs

Of barristers

Crossing Fleet Street

From the Inns of Court

Wearing white wigs and black gowns

Charged with upholding the rule of law

Whilst counting the cash

In stacks

For defending the rich and famous.

I can see them all

Prissing and preening

Puffing out their chests

Primped and primed

Ready to do battle

For the greater good

Without moving from my seat.

Where does it come from

This insatiable need

This desire

What moves me?

I was lost for a while

Before the clock ticked over

An invisible barrier

Was breached

I felt nothing.

Empty of anything worthwhile

Nothing forthcoming

Until I beheld those spires

The thrust of them

Piercing the sky.

Breaking through the clouds

Some people will walk on them

I count more than nine

Get off mine.

I have earned the corn

And deserve my pie in the sky

Even as the edges are burned.

The reason for this remains

Lost in an obscure location

Locked out of sight

For fear the Luddites

Will take an axe to the blueprints.

Which were only ever there

To serve notice

On the naysayers

The soothsayers

Who believe in wishful thinking

The lightness of being.

Progress never ends

For good or ill

Change always comes

When all looks bleak

There is a glimmer of light.

The sun will be reflected

In sky-high glass

Tall stories will emerge

From deep down

Below my level of understanding

Beyond the reach of my finesse

But their return

Will be welcome nonetheless.