Poem of the week: Manhattan by Lola Ridge
(The Guardian Books Blog)

An intensely dynamic vision of New York City in the early 20th century raises questions about its gilded allureManhattanOut of the night you burn, Manhattan,In a vesture of gold - Span of innumerable arcs,Flaring and multiplying - Gold at the uttermost circles fadingInto the tenderest hint of jade,Or fusing in tremulous twilight blues,Robing the far-flung offices,Scintillant-storied, forking flame,Or soaring to luminous amethystOver the steeples aureoled - Diaphanous gold,Veiling the Woolworth, argentlyRising slender and starkMellifluous-shrill as a vender´s cry,And towers squatting graven and coldOn the velvet bales of the dark,And the Singer´s appraisingIndolent idol´s eye,And night like a purple cloth unrolled - Nebulous goldThrowing an ephemeral glory about life´s vanishing points,Wherein you burn ...You of unknown voltageWhirling on your axis ...Scrawling vermillion signaturesOver the night´s velvet hoarding ...Insolent, towering sphericalTo apices ever shifting. Continue reading...