Sprawled At Your Feet

Perfect stillness is not a place desired 

Where silence is just a word falling 

Wandering through the bustling crowds 

You cannot be found if you are not lost 

High above where stars hang unseen 

A city below stitched at its seams 

You walk the paths of winded streets 

That each lead to a different door 

Choices you can make, choices you can break 

Stories that you have been told 

Rising like dust, they are solid like gold 

But the best tales are the ones that you live 

Words that you write, scenes that you create 

Adventure is a sculpture carved in your bones 

Climbing to the highest point of the CN tower 

Screaming on the fastest Wonderland rides 

Rushing water plummeting like the diving swans of

Niagara Freshly covered snow as you hurtle down mountains 

Zipping past trees without a safety net 

As you lick maple syrup dripping off your lips 

Experience made you, freedom bade you 

Chains don’t exist, cages you resist 

There’s a city sprawled at your feet 

Start walking.

Why I Wrote This Piece

I was inspired to create this piece when I thought about the way the city skyline of Toronto looks underneath the stars. I just had that image in my head, of downtown and the sprawling streets, with the biggest crowds, and the center of the city. I started the poem with that in mind, and then as I added lines, I pictured myself doing different things, going through the best experiences I’ve had in Toronto. In the end, this poem became about the opportunities in Toronto that you can have. It’s a poem that is daring you to reach out and take them.

Author

Amna Alvi

Amna is a second year student at the University of Toronto, doing a business specialist with a creative writing minor. She has published her work in a few magazines, including deardearest CA, DAREarts, RCAD, The Message and BlockParty Magazine. The inspiration for her short story "The Contract" was because she wanted to explore a story where magic and modern technology met to create solutions, a world where her main character is constricted by this same magic because she made bad choices, following what others wanted her to do. Now it is up to her main character to find a way to escape this contract, and make the choice to give up something irreplaceable.