The below is from my second book Life, Work and Play: Poems and Short Stories, available on www.authorhouse.com, www.amazon.com and www.bn.com

City Alive

Many lights of yellow, red and blue

can be seen from the large windows of a loft

on West Broadway and Spring Street.

Inside, a woman sipping champagne

is showing her friends,

also sipping champagne, her newly-purchased loft.

Outside, Francine walks her dog Fifi

and talks to Joel, a hot male model.

A lightbulb hangs from a wire

inside a window on 10th Street and Avenue A,

at an apartment where the floor shakes

from dancing at a Sweet 16 party.

Outside, on a stoop, two young women and a man

discuss if they will do ecstasy, and

which club they will go to that night.

A red light illuminates

the small studio of Ethel

on 10th Street and Hudson Street.

She waits for Jessica to come to dinner.

Outside, Jessica leaves Henrietta Hudson,

where she collected several telephone numbers.

Candlelight shows the outline

of two men on 24th street and 8th Avenue.

They eat dinner silently.

There is not much to say.

Outside, John, dressed in a skirt and high heels,

and Joe, dressed in a biker jacket, go to the

neighborhood bar.

A light shines through a small window

on 38th Street and 11th Avenue.

Inside, two lovers dance on the sheets,

their bodies intertwined.

Outside, garbage trucks bring in their cargo

to the sanitation headquarters of New York City.

A chandelier shines inside a large window on

78th Street and Fifth Avenue.

Inside, small children do their homework,

as a maid washes the dishes.

Dr. and Mrs. Oliver discuss their schedule

for the next day.

Outside, Mrs. Cusens and her daughter

shop for a friend’s engagement party.

Candles and a small chandelier show

from inside a window on 86th Street and Broadway.

Inside, Joe studies for his bar exam,

and his roommate Billy works on music

on his computer while wearing a headset.

Outside, Mindy and Mark go into

a new lounge to sip on martinis.

On a bench in West New York,

some young women and men drink beers and

look at Manhattan.

They will party that night.