In 1973, my first time here,
\nI\u2019d stood in wonder with my head strained back
\nAs dizzily I\u2019d tried to see how high
\nThe buildings had to reach to scrape the sky,
\nThen lowered my gaze just like a steeplejack,
\nWho staring straight ahead finds nothing sheer.<\/p>\n
Instead now I\u2019m a resident who knows
\nTo cross Manhattan\u2019s gridded streets it\u2019s best
\nWhen lights are red to zig and when they\u2019re white
\nTo zag \u2013 a kind of crow\u2019s rectangle flight,
\nCombining north or south with east or west,
\nAllowing chance to lead me by the nose.<\/p>\n
And yet my sights too low do I neglect
\nThe joys I\u2019m underlooking as I pass?
\nCareering too determined and hard-nosed,
\nI miss those older buildings juxtaposed,
\nWith superstructures shaped in steel and glass,
\nWhere classical and modern intersect;<\/p>\n
Or how the scrapers taper, tilt or lean,
\nTo strike us with new beautiful contours;
\nHow topmost floors designed to counteract
\nExcessive symmetry are stacked,
\nAnd houses show surprise entablatures \u2013
\nSo much unless we look remains unseen.<\/p>\n
On top of one apartment block my eye
\nPicks out what seems at first some weeds grown wild,
\nBut they\u2019re well-watered leaves of terrace trees
\nSeen peeping over penthouse balconies \u2013
\nThe rooftop plants you\u2019d tended as a child,
\nStill waste their green on earthbound passers-by.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t be too unworldly or withdraw \u2013
\nI live my lower days here down-to earth,
\nLook horizontally for safety\u2019s sake \u2013
\nBut suddenly a higher double take
\nDelights still in my love\u2019s New York rebirth.
\nI\u2019m staring heavenward again in awe.<\/p>\n
Micheal O\u2019Siadhail is the author of sixteen volumes of poetry. His latest book-length poem The Five Quintets<\/em><\/a> was previously reviewed by Frank Armstrong for Cassandra Voices.<\/p>\n In 1973, my first time here, I\u2019d stood in wonder with my head strained back As dizzily I\u2019d tried to see how high The buildings had to reach to scrape the sky, Then lowered my gaze just like a steeplejack, Who staring straight ahead finds nothing sheer. Instead now I\u2019m a resident who knows To […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":3472,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1],"tags":[203],"class_list":["post-3391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry","category-uncategorized","tag-2019february"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}We rely on contributions to keep Cassandra Voices going<\/a>.<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"