park to park to park


today i walked from st. nicholas 
to morningside to riverside

st. nicholas park 
is by my new house
(through the grated shower window
at the back of the building
i can see the house i first lived
in new york)  a hill of green and spring flowers 
with faux-gothic architecture on top
15 blocks long

then a short jaunt along 125
and cut down morningside ave.
the park appears
another 15 block park
on a more strenuous hillside.

i walked until i saw flowering trees
climbing the hill beside crisscross staircases
up what’s nearly a cliff at the top.

as i looked up the hill at the trees
i saw a man ascending the steps
with his arms stretched in front of him
waving in a ritual formation
of gestures.  

above him,
on the same level as a forsythia
a man was walking an obscure tightrope.
his feet were invisible.
it looked like a demonstration.

the man waving his arms
came along and passed the balancing figure.

i turned to the steps
took them slowly
at my pace of looking
i wanted to know what
kind of trees
held up those white flowers.
they looked similar to an all-white tulip tree.

at one confluence of paths
runoff gather enough of a trickle
to constitute a small stream
that washes large stones
and gurgles down the side of the path.

it’s spring
i shaved my beard today.

the set of steps beside the forsythia
was wet
and at the top
the balancing man
had his feet on the ground

a pipe railing painted black
ran along the edge of the overlook
before the final set of steps.
he had been walking on the rail.

by the time i got to him
he had a little girl
on her feet on the top rail.
he walked beside her
one arm behind her
each of his hands 
holding hers
		like partners
in a promenade.

at the top of the stairs 
i passed them
turned and stopped
to watch her walk
in the air.

when she was done
and dismounted
i applauded.

she turned and smiled.
the man also smiled.
i walked on.

immediately there was a set of steep steps.
as i looked further on i saw another
more rustic, slow-climbing stairway
i opted for the latter.

on my way to the farther stairs 
i came up on a man performing
a drill or dance
huffing and grunting
as he hopped backward
sidestepped a stride or two
when I passed him
he was just starting another round
and hopping backward
with a complicated injection
of sidesteps
he matched my stride
sweating and scuffing
in reverse.

i pursued the final steps
looked down the hill
at the easter egg hunt
and read the top of the glad hill.

i walked over to Amsterdam ave
and hung a left.  the cathedral loomed large
with a sizable crowd on the steps.
i decided to have a look inside
it being so big and all.

i walked in front of a tour group
receiving the word in French
and got a flash right in the face.
luckily my sunglasses
covered my surprise
at the 5 dollar suggested donation
i stood momentarily dumbfounded.

i remembered christ’s single recorded act of violence
against the moneylenders on the steps of the temple.
the guys from the other team
were working on his turf.

i managed not to say:
is that god’s suggestion?
and left.

to get the bad taste out of my mouth
i grabbed a coffee
and walked further west
to riverside park.

the park on the other side of the same hill
that allows a view of new jersey and the hudson.

i watched jersey suffer the sunny afternoon.
drank my coffee and sunned myself on a bench.
a lot of families were out running their children
any number of folks walked their dogs
and a girl with dyed hair had her cat on a leash
each had a nap
the cat in the dirt 
the girl on the bench above.

as the sun sank
i took a combination of busses 
back where i began.













why i am
a nomad: