Angele Toomey Poetry

What happens when the city you once knew erodes your mind as much as your body?
“Sit. Rep: Day 90” is an examination of being in a foreign place, aligning it to an astronaut in space.

I invented the word  “Urbanaut”, at least I think I did. It captures the essence of being an observer; a modern day anthropologist trying to learn how to understand and survive the urban frontier.

These words chart alienation, adaptation, and what remains of us when our environment no longer feel like home.

Sit. Rep:Day 90
Along crowded streets I’ve walked
Keeping eyes to myself, no talk.
Imagining the worlds held behind glass
Wondering how long my deployment  will last.

The environment here is hard and toxic,
Eroding protective layers until you’re mind sick.
The training never covered how to navigate
All that hides more than neon can illuminate.

The inhabitants move quickly between
Pleasure and pain, never feeling free.
Artificial facades, like smiles painted on
Tidal movements of fashion without reason.

So foreign, nothing is how I was taught
In the days before I became an urbanaut.