LES, NYC, 2009

Originally posted 8/30/2009.

Come out of the Nuyo
at midnight
to packed streets:
every person in the world is here —
no, EVERYTHING is here;
my ears and eyes and nostrils flare
to pull it into me; every shop open,
every bar filled, garbage perfume underlying
lily scent from the flower stand, merengue
blaring from a gated alley 
where a column of white balloons sways 
in the courtyard beyond;
short skirts, long legs, shirt tails
and two days’ growth on every corner,
everyone seeking paths through
and around each other;
the Lower East Side,
the turning, the churning,
the shirring of wheels
where the New York City Machine
remakes, re-imagines, and revives,
and does it nowhere louder
than in this place
that has always been
the source of beginnings,
beehive of promise, island of
sweet buzz
and sting.