This city is hard and getting harder.
A forever throng of millions from every scattered nation, lined up chest-to-back, a herd of malodorous cattle on an island twenty-two miles long, forced to scrabble for whatever crumbs fall down from our masters’ table.
Our masters sell the lie that we might one day join them.
They advertise diamond wristwatches on bus stops to the slums pushed further out each year as city rents climb and old neighborhoods are remade for the rich.
Hell’s Kitchen, Bed-Stuy, even Harlem, all turned to luxury lofts and townhouses.
And still they keep coming, piling in, heads full of some store-bought hopeless hope.
Dear J Hardy,
Powerful last line.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Bleak but true
Nice summation of capitalism in the 21st century. The question is where will it stop, or will it ever stop? Good work as always.
Malodorous cattle, love it.
Store-bought hopeless hope, indeed. And dearly bought, at that.
Nicely done.
Well done. You really conveyed a very chilling hopeless atmosphere. I found some of the syntax a little awkward but that could well suit the narrator and their conversational style.
xx Rowena
Thanks. I reworked some of the syntax in the middle. It’s so bleak I didn’t spend much time editing it.
That reads a lot better. I like a bit of bleak but that’s because I’m not stuck in it.
Some great lines in here. Malodorous cattle is exactly how I see the masses and store bought hopeless hope is perfect
A laser focused summary of our times. I loved the line about the store bought hopeless hope.
That’s great. They’re all great. Not to sound like an echo around here, but hopeless hope is great.
You had me with the diamond watch ads at the bus stops. Very powerful. Great writing.