BARCELONA :: Oxymoron

Incessant sunlight
And wide streets
Barcelona,
You fascinate me
A jungle of buildings
Flashes of colour
Yet golden sand
like perpetual summer

A beach city
With azure waves
Crashing on sand
In hazy days
Yet just beyond
Is an urban sprawl
Alleyways and
Graffiti walls

Hidden bars
And quiet lanes
Clothes hung out,
There is no rain.
Scattered parks
Bring welcome green,
Trees and hedges
‘Tis quite a scene.

And yet rising
like a mighty wave
Crooked edges,
A living cave
The architect’s
Masterpiece
Is for the eyes
Quite a feast

And others spring
Up in the city
Twisted curves,
White-washed pretty
Roofs and a
Ginger-bread-like house
Rickety pillars
Made to astound.

Surreal landscapes
Amidst the plain
For this, Barcelona,
You are famed
Yet I find you
A paradox,
Where luxury mixes
With stray dogs.

[Written 8/12/16 partially in an unknown garden/park, partially in Park Guell]