At night, we own the city

At daybreak the city swells.
People leave home, half awake, through folding bus doors
routine takes over.

Not that the city is predictable;
my city is changing with each turn that I make.
But as the day progresses, it is always most alive;
there is the most movement
In the simplest sense, I think that to move is to be alive.

Then, as darkness falls, the lights flicker and fade as chaos is resumed.
During the daytime, we are a part of the city
However, at night, we own the city.

Last night (Sunday) just before 11pm I set out by a bicycle with 16 speeds. Not deliberately to explore, more to deplete my batteries so that I might be able to sleep some. The gale-force weekend had covered Tamaki Drive with sand and debris which flicked onto my behind and made its way into the nozzle of my drink. The cars approaching me quickly from behind in the dark were not the only hazard, but I had to swerve to avoid rockfall from the cliffs above, and seaweed, at least 100 meters further inland than seaweed is ever supposed to lay.

The Hertzian spaces of the city can be switched on and off. And I would say that to some extent the city has had the ability to switch itself on and off since the introduction of the electric light bulb. But at night my city does not stop glowing. In fact, in last night's rain the lights of the port were as bright as I have ever seen them; reflecting and intensifying from every single drop.

Isn't it funny
How the city can seem at it's most alive at night; when everyone is away, at home.
As I rounded the corner at Kelly Tarltons the final stretch, the light was almost blinding.

In some cases it is surely true; that the city truly wakes at night, as people flock to its bars and clubs in search of companionship. However, it seems that Auckland is still sleepy at night, especially on a Sunday.

But last night as I pedaled my aching legs home, the glow of those lights, the brightness due to rain that I don't think I have appreciated before reminded me of the freedom that is to move freely through my streets as everything else is still.