The Night We Sang

The night we sang karaoke
On Fulton Street
Walked over the Brooklyn Bridge
Saw the city shining before midnight
Held hands in the subway while
You made me promise
Never to lie
I told you I don't roll that way
Knew I was falling in love
When we returned to Harlem
Together
Under falling snow.

Skyline

The city feels different tonight,
No longer our city,
Our skyline,
Our Brooklyn Bridge.
People are shadows on the streets,
Faceless, passive figures walking slowly.

You left me in the morning and
The suddenness of it took the color from my sight,
The storefronts of Astoria went black.
Our time in your car in Rockaway,
The milkshake in the diner,
The drive back through Brooklyn,
All of it, over and done.

There are parts of the city I can't return to.
The West Village, the Lower East Side,
Especially East Harlem, where we
Walked through snow on Three Kings Day.
The people were faceless, then, because
We could only see each other.

You kept me awake until dawn
Just so you could show me the sunrise
Over Harlem,
Walked me home and tucked me in
So we could sleep 'til noon.
We danced that night in Brooklyn
In a crowded room that seemed so empty,
You inspired me to write after
You said you were falling in love.

I should have known it was too good to be true.
You walked out of my life as quickly as
You entered, left me reeling in your wake.

The city looks different tonight.
I see it with the eyes of one who has been
Left behind.
We had so much to explore,
Unseen streets, untasted food,
Things I wanted to share with you,
Pieces of my city.

The memory of you remains,
Your sensuality and passion.
You were everything I wanted and
I thought I was that for you.
The city is dark tonight,
But I know it won't be that way forever.
The lights and colors will return one day,
The faces of the people,
The flowers in bloom,
The smell of bagels and knishes.
Everything that reminds me of home,
Nothing that reminds me of you.

-GSS 2009

Guernica

A Pablo Picasso
Wannabe
Spray-painted
His interpretation
of "Guernica"
On the
Red brick wall
Down the block
From your place.

You pointed out
This masterpiece
Without fail
Each time we
Passed it by.

-GSS 2009

Rapture

Our bodies melt together
Slick and seamless
Fish in water
Seaglass
Blues and clear, crystal greens
Gray beaches
Corals on the shore
Lights in the sky
I am yours completely
The violent mossy tide
Strings us along
Like kelp.

My soul is sea green
Frosted stars in a
Cold winter but
With you here
The cold fades into black.

You are everything I know
And everything I want to know
Tidal flats teeming with life
Pools of blood, ripe
The night lit up like
Cigarettes and wine
A backdrop for our symphony
An echo of our emotion
Melodic blending
Rhythmic flow,
We carry on and on.

I was alone on the inside
Until you opened me whole.
Now I'm flooded, overloaded
A cityscape at night
Lit up from within
Dusty seashore that
Carries me home,
I am yours.

I breathe your salt and
Drink your liquid skin.
I am windblown and heartstruck.
Love washes over me with the
Harmony and flow of time
Passages of verse
Chords and disjointed phrases
Ambient light and mood.

You are a bright source of light.
You nurture me like the sea,
Bringing me back to myself
In waves.
I would strive always to do
The same for you,
Give back to you a hundredfold
Rock you gently with the moon's
Ancient phases
Breathe life into you
Love you until the end of time,
Your skin, mine, your eyes mine,
As we watch the present moment
Unfold into days and years like
An ocean, bending only
With the flash of
Dawn on a new horizon.

-GSS 2009

Lesson

In the light of the moon
You are many colors
I see you as you see me
Lengthened shadow and shape,
Forms stretching into darkness
Outside the circle of light.

I am bleeding, raw and open
My pain seeping out
Unrecognized
The ebb and flow of emotion
Cold and alone
I don't know who I am
But when you are here
I feel complete.

It took a night like this
To make me see who we are,
Complimentary colors
Red and green
Blue and orange
Purple and yellow.
We roll along unbroken
Painting the past with each track.

I'm finding out who I am
I'm reaching inside this
Wellspring of feeling
Spilling over my edges
Draining out through my eyes.

I long for so much more than
What we are
I know it almost too soon
I fear the intensity and realization,
I fear the loss.

I can teach myself to be happy
But I can't find peace in the
Dark of the forest tonight,
Wishes mean nothing
Covered in ashes,
I've got to carve my own line
Draw it where it lies hidden
Under the rough, dead leaves.

-GSS 2/09