A Blessing for New York, No. 1 Print

Bless this city. Bless this moment. Bless these people. Somewhere out there a New Yorker tells you to “Back the f*ck off,” And someone else, rushes to your door with homemade soup and a spare face mask. This is who we are: tough and soft and together. Somewhere out there a jazz musician plays on the street and people watch from their fire escapes, And somewhere else Biggie blares from the rolled down windows of a 1992 Toyota sedan. This is who we are: high notes and low bass and surprise music on street corners. Somewhere out there bodies pile up in refrigerated trucks and family run funeral homes, And someone sends a blessing to the city for the 18000 bodies that have vanished unseen. This is who we are: 8 million people curled in the hidden corners of this sprawling wonder. Bless this city. Bless this moment. Bless these people. Somewhere lovers have run out of conversations and sit staring at each other at their dining room table, And somewhere else a woman cooks dinner via Zoom with a man who seems like the physical embodiment of Indiana. This is who we are: comfortable and together and exploring and strangers. Somewhere out there, she has managed to contract COVID, And somewhere else, her mother in law has developed antibodies — asymptomatically. This is who we are: healthy and ill and always family. Somewhere I hid for you secrets in the city: hidden hearts and surprise flowers and balloons along the street, And somewhere else the city laughed because it could see the real hidden gifts of hope and love and magic. This is who we are: surprised and awed and in love and angry and scared and grieving and growing and enjoying and hating and stretching and learning and trying to understand. Bless this city. Bless this moment. Bless these people. Flower garlands have been used as blessings for centuries. A friend shared that on Sunday when I placed garlands in my neighborhood. So I sent one into the East River and said a blessing for this city, for this moment, for these people and all people.