Just a New York Poem, by Nikki Giovanni

October 3, 2009

i wanted to take
your hand and run with you
together toward
ourselves down the street to your street
i wanted to laugh aloud
and skip the notes past
the marquee advertising “women
in love” past the record
shop with “The Spirit
In The Dark” past the smoke shop
past the park and no
parking today signs
past the people watching me in
my blue velvet and i don’t remember
what you wore but only that i didn’t want
anything to be wearing you
i wanted to give
myself to the cyclone that is
your arms
and let you in the eye of my hurricane and know
the calm before

and some fall evening
after the cocktails
and the very expensive and very bad
steak served with day-old baked potatoes
after the second cup of coffee taken
while listening to the rejected
violin player
maybe some fall evening
when the taxis have passed you by
and that light sort of rain
that occasionally falls
in new york begins
you’ll take a thought
and laugh aloud
the notes carrying all the way over
to me and we’ll run again
together
toward each other
yes?

--

I wish I could capture moments like this: moments that create feeling, rather than the other way around.

--

Today, I bought Trenton Lee Stewart's The Mysterious Benedict Society for my sister's birthday (shh, don't tell her). The cover art first caught my eye a few months ago:

And it certainly looks worth reading (ahem, I totally bought this solely for my sister. Totally). Can anyone say New York Times bestseller?

It made me realize a while ago that this year, I don't want to write a hopelessly sentimental (how many times have I used this phrase?) love story for NaNoWriMo. I want to write something simple and refreshing and happy-but-not-quite.

I've always liked reading children's novels anyway. Most "adult fiction" feels tainted to me, as if the authors take themselves too seriously, try too hard to impart Enlightened Wisdom to their readers, and/or ground themselves too firmly in reality. And don't get me started on teen lit. D:

Okay, that is all for today. LastweekendbeforetheSATwishmeluckbecauseIwillverymuchneedit.

You know, I really enjoy this daily unstructured writing thing. Except every time I say the word "daily," my frequency of writing instantly plummets. SO LET ME REPHRASE THAT:

You know, I really enjoy this occasional-once-in-a-while unstructured writing thing. Perhaps I shall do it a bit more, but that is more of a question than a statement.