What makes a city glorious and great
is not the asphalt or the concrete or the neon
(the alleys, sidewalks and lights of the city)
not the bricks or the girders or the glass
(the buildings, bridges and sights of the city).
True, it would not be much of a city without them.
But they are only the material makings of the city –
its intra-infra-structures.
They are only the flesh and bones of the city –
the lungs, not the voice of the city
the head, not the mind of the city
its bodily arteries, not its spiritual heart
it’s physical form, not its metaphysical soul.