I
Trade at the crossroads
Wood huts to steel heights
Crowds, crime, and culture
Nightlife and night shift
Bourgeoisie birthplace
~~~
II
Walled intersection
Cart wheels and car honks
Taxes, trade, tourism
Street signs and stop lights
Opportunity
Afterword
Inspiration. The hieroglyph for city. Above, from Artefacts of Writing: ‘Niwt’: the hieroglyph for ‘city’, with extended explication of the image. Second image from same site, with other heirglyphs. Also, “O49 Area with crossroads … as organized by Sir Alan H. Gardiner in his Egyptian Grammar.” Egyptian Hieroglyphs: Gardiner’s Sign List of Egyptian Hieroglyphs.
Suggestions for specifics from Forbes: What Defines A Great City?, O’Sullivan 2024 & Forbes: How To Quantify A Successful City, Beyer 2015. Prepandemic, so specifics have aged out, but the “collection of indices” is still relevant.
This started as a haiku, but let’s be serious, my attempts at haiku are more about clever word choice than about creating a poetic moment. So, I decided to leaned into it. These are the geometric equivalent of poetry.
Archives [Haiku, Senryu, & Haiku-like Objects]
Update. To be read as separate efforts. Numbers, divider, & second photo and attribution added to clarify.
Onwards!
Katherine
Virtual Brush Box 