RITTENHOUSE: PAST

The space is enough
to isolate a tree's shadow,
remind us what's real.

Benches face around
an empty center, sharing
focus on nothing.

The elaborate
stonework guards nothing, except
an old way of life.

The Barrie lion
is not bordered except with
trodden grass, and space.

From the center, the
hooftaps sound distant, like a
far thunder's approach.

RITTENHOUSE: PRESENT

Stop signs and trolley
directionals lend the park
more swaths of color.

Few lampposts stand here,
walkers dependent on cast-
off glow from hotels.

As many people
lie down here as walk and play,
make themselves at home.

From the cellists to
the b-boys, it's clear no one
comes for the quiet.

The stone walls have been
vandalized: "Creepy old men
sit here," it warns now.

By ARIELLE BROUSSE