The opening bell and the bull that guard the money are rushing you

Delivery boys and Uber drivers zoom up and down the city to the morning rush

Buses kneel, subways delayed, and we all jockey onboard for the best position

The GWB is packed so use the lower level

You rush to pay for your bagel and when you get to the counter an old lady paying with stamps holds up the line

The day’s blind and mariachi and disabled folk are gearing up to make their daily bread

The trucks and the sedans and the minis block up the narrow two way streets that should be one way

You’re late for your meeting and almost spill coffee on the big Puerto Rican guy sitting next to you

The pigeons fly overhead and the innumerable buildings of the Empire State are all around you

Tourists touching down in the city for the first time marvel at the wonder of Gotham from up above

The people in the projects take their kids to school, Staten Island Republicans wake up, and Orthodox Jews begin their day

And I observe this from a tiny bench in a tiny park and remain a lost soul in this goliath city of dreams