Babel

Let us build ourselves a city

with roof-top gardens and bike lanes,

clean streets and green condos; polite

progressives with indoor voices

faithfully paying down school debt,

unworried by history or context.

Let us make a name for ourselves

with college words and whitened teeth,

fitness apps and yoga: moderation;

without discord moving forward.

Fitter, happier, more productive

lest we be scattered amongst dissimilar

visions, opinions and politics. Hearing

other voices raised in obscenities,

reminding us of the unhappy

others deemed unfit for the city.

Let us make a tower
with sound-proof windows.