- International Studies Office
- For Students
- For Faculty
- For Parents
-
Places the subway took me They said “This city never sleeps”. At first These streets were just another road But, I couldn’t resist the lights wrapped around, the square of time, Maintained a constant motion---spinning those red white-yellow, flashing Neon-lights coca-cola signs and M&M world belched out this city A place. Not my home but I noticed, The same decaying man. Looking like the smell of piss, And for a quarter or a half eaten sandwich, I wondered what he had done Living. People. So many people pulsating through the veins of New York, New York, has its own sound. rhythm Sounds Rhythms They like to sing. On subways and open plat forms, Blowing their souls, strumming hungry melodies, Easing the sardine-stuffed-in-a-moving-can like feeling out of Strangers --huddle close during the rushed hours And if, You chance to, Peak Out the window. Above or below the shoulder of someone Wait for the moment when the two tin trains Align Fast motion Faces, Briefly pausing for your eye glance before they stretch out, multicolored gum-like, smudge paint, blurry, on to the next moment. Depending on where you’re going. But I liked east Harlem The people were honest, Walking down 125th street, drifting between history And Obama merchandise in every window and behind every stand They sell fruit. Everywhere. Same fruit. Different prices. Many people, Several lives Tightly woven together and apart In This city Every one speaks Spanish If you ride the train long enough China has its own town In New York, I remember Them marching, In Arab kifiya The green, red, black, white flags Fluttering, demanding the world to explain those lives Lower west side Filled in the streets for Palestine Shaloem! New York, Not a melting pot but the reality of the world In one small dose, Hate or love 5th ave, The corner sporting them subway rats--- The air smells the same.