Cities in the Dark

Daily Note

Every day, a photograph, a poem.

Our local basketball played to 3rd place in the Washington State local league, so Scott [Publisher of our local paper The Star Newspaper] and I head to Spokane so he can cover the playoffs. I am able to work and blog from this view of the city.

It’s a familiar sight since I lived here for about fifteen years— the convention center, the “lighted tent,” which was the US Pavilion in the 1974 World’s Fair in Riverfront Park, the old railroad yard clock tower— kept as history when the railroad center was replaced with a park for the fair, and north towards the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It’s a beautiful city in most places, and we enjoy the occasional trip here.

And, for a COVID moment, yesterday was my first time in a restaurant since the pandemic started. So, we move on in this lovely city.

And yet— in any city or town, often we don’t know our neighbors anymore. We live out our lives for our own busy day-to-day work and play. But wouldn’t it be nice if neighborhoods began to get to know each other, to help each other, to take time on a Saturday or Sunday for a couple hours of gathering at a “block party?” If we know each other, we are less afraid of the “other,” and we realize our common ground, though we differ. I think it would soothe some of the chaos and bullying of today’s world.

Our little neighborhood has a neighbor who brought us all together— in the summers, one day in each of June, July, and August. She gets permission from the city to “block the street.” Everyone brings something to eat. She and her husband bring thousands of water balloons, and a neighborhood celebration and water fight fills the ‘hood with delights. How about trying a Block Party in your corner of the world?

Thanks to our friends across the street, our neighborhood knows and cares about each other!

And so a poem…

Cities in the Dark

Cities in the dark, that is where we are
Neighbors go unseen, how life does go on
Stop to say hello when tomorrow comes
And make a friend of your neighbor, it’s true
Though we differ with each other, speak truth.

Sheri Edwards
03.02.23 061.365.23
Poetry/Photography