Unspoken

From the elevated tracks
The rooftops of Queens
Blur together like a dream,
New York in winter wind
Shining palely.

Mist of morning hangs thick
Smokescreen curtain call.
My night has ended and
Day rises from ashes,
Vulnerable and open.

My heart is an echo in the
Metal container that
Carries us forth through the city,
Song lyrics dancing through me
Images of youth flashing forward.

This is not the morning I expected,
No longer lonely,
This is a ray of sunlight,
Expectation,
Fish in a pond leaping to feed
From my hook.

I stand with my unread paper
My backpack
My unfinished words
Thinking of what will be,
What has been,
What never was.

The city holds me cautiously
Afraid to break me
To drop me too soon
All while speeding me forth into
Underground wisdom
Platforms littered with footprints
My dreams in black barrels
Waiting to be emptied.

This is not the day I wanted
Hanging heavy like the heart of
A broken lover
The wonderment of newness
Tinged with fear of loss
Precarious new thing hanging in the balance.

My train brings me back to you.
I step out through the doors,
Acceptance, peace, surety.
Your voice is with me in the halls
As I carry my burdens and empty them
Like discarded dailies.

-GSS 2009