sunlight across the town picks out a face at a window / face seen through milky grey of the reflecting pane / face seen from within the room / separate times / face of the boy / face of the man / boy in earliest morning light / man in fading evening light / window faces south / we are in the northern hemisphere / above as stated / lights reversed / both faces / whatever time / blink and gaze cross rooftops chimneys monuments / shimmer of mosaic over every surface / the city’s renown / alternatively the town is drab with slow decay / birds circle the clocktower in both / reflected in eyes of man and boy alike the alternative scenes they imagine / mosaic city boy sees drab town / drab town man dreams mosaic city / mosaic city man sees drab town / drab town boy dreams mosaic city / and always / birds circlin tha clocktower / dong