To the City

                                          

We’re going to the City, we would say,
     all of fourteen and thrilled to the core.
My world, my growing up in New York.
Out in the boroughs, quiet, same,
     a drone’s life, just enough money to live.
But get on the bus, get on the train,
     and Eureka!  It’s Manhattan.
Up the subway steps and out into the air.
You never know what might happen!
Every step is an adventure, we learned,
     every street corner a new world,
     every turn opening a thousand possibilities.
Who will you be tomorrow?  Who are you today?
Wearing Nana’s old fur coat,
     dragging and torn, over my jeans,
     I scooted between moving cars, and up into the air.
Open, worlds!  Open, my mind!
What could be next?  The world my chocolate box,
     tripping up and down the streets,
     magic afoot in the City.

Annelinde Metzner
Larchmont, New York
October 2, 2012