manhattan
i did so many downdogs on you
i must’ve mistaken you for a yoga mat
floating
in the east river.

as if
if
i did enough horizontal sun dances with
the earth
i’d find it
underneath
tunnels, sewers.

i don’t
appreciate
the jitters you gave me buckling
the knees of tall buildings the smoke absent
faces or the uncalled for curses pushing
me in front of crosstown
buses

i’ve been learning to stand up to you
for years
by walking

in currents that collect
at the harbor seaports shoot
up the empire state lightning rod
nadis licking avenues streets
in cross-hairs
white light

you do not stop
but neither do i
we balance on each other
2 boiled eggs at the deli

but i’ve made space
large enough for
one hand one heart
with eyes closed
and its enormous bigger even
than you.

the world pressed a flower between my fingerips.
pressed so hard they became fingertips.
i use my flowers to feel.
air, grace.
the way concrete gives way to weeds.

the world gave me
gave you
a bouquet in layers of skin

each year new ones die
others blossom.
we photosynthesize gray
into being

you we
are the world
on the tip
of a stem.

ny exploded and it’s colorful inside.