A walk on the beach
Walking the Chicago North Avenue beach at night, moon is yellow. I smoke and put on my shades. Nice hues. Bright lights of the city all around behind me. Navy pier, Bloomingdale’s towers and the old Playboy building. Went out on pier and tried to sit, but came back because I don’t like the dark and the lights seem to be the energy of the city which is what I came for. Try to tune the high.
I am struck by the presence of lights. Are they here for safety or aesthetics, or what? Seems to be overkill.
I note to myself that I don’t like the taste in my mouth of cigar. I put mine out. Note to file, do I need this crap?
How do I describe verbally what I see? Can I capture the lights and the cars; the moon perched just above the horizon and the water reflecting a beautiful white line from the moon? The pier, the lake shore drive. It’s coming together. So I walk the lake to the new boathouse and the muscle beach. Just missed the roller hockey game. So I walk the beach and sightsee.
Lots of people out; couples, joggers, bikers. The obvious backpack versus the stripped down biker/skater distinguishes commuter from exerciser. I am alert but there are no Cholos. Where have all the cholos gone? Sung to the tune of flowers gone.
A black couple approaching acting real loud and drunk. He is a Loud mutha fcka! Such a cultural chasm on this city’s near north side.
The night can cover the blemishes of a city and they can create new ones from the day.
Here come the cops. It is curfew. They spit out the words through their loud speaker. “The beach is closed. Leave immediately. The beach is closed. Leave immediately.”
IN 1967 This Box Tops song got to #24.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5xORduJt9Q
The city lights, the pretty lights,
They can warm the coldest nights.
All the people going places,
Smiling with electric faces.
What they find the glow erases,
And what they loose the glow replaces, and life is love
In a neon rainbow, a neon rainbow.
Moving lines, flashing signs,
Blinking faster than the minds.
Leading people with suggestions,
Leaving no unanswered questions.
You can live without direction,
And it don’t have to be perfection, and life is love
In a neon rainbow, a neon rainbow.
But in the daytime everything changes,
Nothing remains the same.
No one smiles anymore,
And no one will open his door
Until the night time comes.
And then the …
City lights, the pretty lights,
They can warm the coldest nights.
All the people going places,
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