Manhattan, you still shock me
which should come as no surprise
with what Con Ed still charges to put twinkle in the eyes
of a couple million shoppers at a couple thousand stores
– but economics ain’t news in this City anymore.
For just today while climbing up the heights of Fort George Hill
I found one of those areas where urban life’s gone still.
In Highbridge Park I entered with no one else around
and in almost an instant – except for traffic sounds –
I was lost to all the city that has so long been my home
and found a wooded glen in which for hours I could roam.
The reverie could only last so long, in truth, because
the City’s always called me back. She will. She always does.
But for a moment, in Manhattan, I sat on a tree
and thanked you, my town, for this opportunity.