Beautiful at Night (Elegy For a Dying City)

BEAUTIFUL AT NIGHT
(Elegy for a once-great city)
I remember the first time I saw you,
Glowing, in soft morning light
How could I know, in that soft morning glow,
You’d be even more beautiful at night?

Now, see how your beauty is fading!
Sallow and no longer bright
Dismal and gray in the full light of day,
Yet, somehow, still beautiful at night

BRIDGE:
Do not pretend all good things do not end,
Cynics and sophists may say
But [For] all ends depend on decisions made by men
It did not have to end up this way
[Does it really have to end up this way?]

Where, once, there was beauty,
There is homelessness, violence, and blight
Such a sad, forlorn sight, but at least from a height
New York City still looks beautiful at night
At least, you’re still beautiful at night

Copr. 2020, Gene Schwimmer