I heart NYC

4th - 11th October 2008 - holiday to New York. Spent an afternoon in Central Park and composed a poem of observations.

Challenged myself to stick to a formula with each verse (so each has four lines, the first line of each has got 15 syllables, the next with 17, the third with a different rhyme and 5 syllables and the last with 11 syllables). No reason to this pattern, other than it seemed to flow nicely.

Selection of photos are in USA set in Flickr


Is it really possible to fall in love with a city?
I ponder this, lying in the patchy shade of a Central Park tree.
Time stands still … until
The cool shade of the next tree envelops me.

Skyscrapers reflect each other’s architectural beauty
Promises of dreams come true, assured by the Statue of Liberty
Sights evolve … dissolve
Iconic images, locked in memory

Squirrels rummage freely, acting all cute and ‘squirrely’
Couples stroll by, holding hands or sit down together all ‘coupley’
Smells are clean and green
No pong or blaring hype of Abercrombie

The Apple store - a favourite hang out - use the net for free
A recession darling? 5th Avenue will always have Tiffany’s!
Sounds cascade … then fade,
A horse drawn carriage passes occasionally

Joggers everywhere - no real surprise, food portions are scary
Gastronomic indulgence … pretzels, hotdogs and eggs over easy
Savour the flavours
Then just walk a block for a Starbucks ‘kworfee’

Here I escape from the traffic hum, the deep honks of taxis
The saxophonist in the tunnel repeats amateur melodies
Brief cadence … silence
Then a cheeky siren whoops … NYPD!

Homeless Willie J made me smile, selling his peace poetry
Better sales pitch than the almost-famous artist selling CDs
Should I care? or fear
For those begging, proudly, for sympathy?

What a place, where you can dream to do anything or just ‘be’
Where the rich and poor, bizarre and bewildered live in odd harmony
All one crazy haze
My senses have been stimulated, completely

This is the city that never sleeps, in the land of the free
Except, perhaps, under the cool patchy shade of a Central Park Tree
I heart NYC