Tall and Intrepid

by Joe Váradi

Tall and Intrepid, your name
Literally

— do our names shape us?
do we aspire to our labels?
insufferable as they are

Your former moniker a tad more
Pedestrian

— “wag the dog”, the masses mocked
yet a metropolis emerged
from humid dust

Merchants of both Commerce and of Death
Far-flung

— from the Kingdom of Tulips
and the Empire of the Sun
have trodded these shores

Your spires now stand in vigil
Against a looming menace across the strait
Defiantly

— while your foot soldiers course through your arteries
chasing fortune and dreams by day
and earthly delights by night

Queen City of the Beautiful Isle
Rainha da Formosa

— the fragrant stink of fermented soybeans
and the pulsing symphony of sanitation trucks
settle over your River of Love

This is in response to Katerina Canyon’s poetry prompt.

And a Happy Birthday to my wife Jenny! This is her birthplace.

Extra claps for the first responder to correctly name the location!