Zelda's Inferno exercise: supported freewrite on random phrase from the Urbanite -- "walk the streets to get a feel for the neighborhood."
walk the streets and feel
under your feet
under the asphalt
the geography of the land
shaped by millions of years
each little hill and valley the result of
catastrophic forces, earthquakes, continental shifts
the slow erosion from the flow of water
walk the streets to get a feel
for the paths thousands of years
of the feet of thousands of people
have worn
each body 60% water
our steps just another form of water erosion
walk the streets to get a feel for the neighborhood
the architecture and the art
the people of the place
the climate, the shade, the sun and the shadow
concrete and grass and bare soil and culverts
the cracks in the cement that become little ponds
the gritty feel of industrial neighborhoods
like dirty used machine oil hanging in the air
the downtown man-made canyons where sunlight never
penetrates to the bottom
the artificial viridian of chemical-infused exurban lawns
where you will not be permitted to walk --
it is a place for looking not for feeling
walk the streets if you can
the ghettos not safe to walk
but neither the gated communities, where guards eye with
suspicion any who walk rather than drive
walk the streets and get a feel for the neighborhood
if you can
if you dare