Metropolitan Diary 10.16.01 {poem}

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Once shadowed by skyscrapers,
my sun now filtered with smog.
The roar of the ocean makes it difficult to recall
feelings I‘ve had negotiating Times Square traffic
on a bike.
The man in the elevator said I looked like I belonged
in an office.
Lifting up the visor from my helmet,
to get a better look at Mr.,
might as well be, Wall Street-tall dark and handsome,
I asked “Are you hiring?”
His “No” joined the others and continued to seal my fate.
Long stories of tired muscles and heavy messenger bags,
stress and taxis cabs,
old knee injuries revisited
bringing me to hospitals
I should have visited long ago.
NYC has been givin’ me a post
– “life was too good in India, smack me back to reality” –
serious beat down.
And thus I welcome the retreat
from roaring subways beneath the angry impatience
of cell phone distracted drivers.
These saltwater breezes,
a soothing replacement
for the stench of burnt plastic and asbestos,
still lingering among the downtown rubble.

[written while on Venice Beach in LA | reflecting on my time in India]

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