New York:
shocking queues at the grocery store
exacerbate numbing prices
of bare necessities.
Tasks once simple are now an ordeal,
the burden borne by our precious time, limited patience,
perhaps by a hired hand from our deep pockets.
The hours here are longer, the days shorter.
Restaurants, bars, delis, bagelries,
watch shops, purse shops, gyms,
hotels, brothels, Starbucks, bakeries
stack vertically to form totem poles of bright lights:
ads so high they eclipse the heavens
and any semblance of providence.
There are more people but fewer friends
as if their task is to knock others around
like balls in a giant pinball game
where points are scored for curses
and whacks of the shoulder.
The avenue blocks are long,
the street blocks are short.
Trains run north and south,
but the crosstown trip is more difficult:
a long walk or an erratic bus.
New York is like a beautiful mistress:
she seduces the unknowing john
by her pulchritude and mystique.
The naive lover will always return
to kiss her black lipstick
and long maroon-painted nails.
She need not convince him to stay.
He tells her he loves her,
for he is afraid of what she'll do if he does not.
Chicago:
is the comely friend.
Her sophistication lies deep within her compassion.
Her humility may not compel him,
for he is distracted by New York's
demanding personality,
her relentless plea for his attention.
"He will come around," says Chicago.
Her frigid winters ensure
only those with the warmest hearts remain:
those few will reap the beauty of her summers,
the bounty of her streets,
the luxury unmatched by any city.
Chicago is forgiving to those who embrace her.
Though she tests our patience-
her unreliable buses and infrequent trains-
but she rewards us with
her seasonal beaches,
her flat expanse,
her inexpensive cabs,
her generous constituency.
Her streets roll on into the distance
farther than the eye can see,
promising adventure.
Her charm is revealed slowly
only to those willing to chart her bountiful nooks.
I will always respect New York,
its density unmatched
its grandeur commanding fear
and ecstasy
and inspiration.
It is the undisputed capital of the world,
the crossroads of Western Civilization.
New York is no more American than it is
continental,
worldly,
universal.
Its unnumbered skyscrapers and vast trains:
the triumph of modern man.
It is a beautiful and endangered metropolitan forest
whose canopy lies well above the clouds,
trapping its hypnotic sublime.
The secular lights of Time Square
fool the night to think it is day,
where hordes of spectators teem
and pant their awe in scores of tongues
which tongues are nowhere else
uttered at once.
But the same immensity that makes New York
everybody's city
makes it
nobody's city.
Its grandeur can be shared,
not owned,
and its majesty will as readily abandon me
in favor of another
as it once abandoned one
in favor of me.
Chicago knows not how to unlove.
To become a Chicagoan is
a permanent move.
Those privileged few-
who have been spoilt by her quality of life,
by her in-unit laundry machines,
by remarkably cheap rents,
by her accessible views and broad avenues,
by her fountains,
her diverse neighborhoods,
her Midwestern hospitality,
her loyal followers-
those privileged few cannot undo their ties.
Nor do they want to.
I will think of New York from time to time
the way we reminisce over a middle school crush,
the one who teased us and gave us nothing
but a light tap on the lips when we wanted
so much more.
Now that we are older,
she is good for a quick thrill,
but when we start to exchange the words of our hearts,
she turns the next trick.
At night, I rest in the bosom of Chicago
whose wisdom and patience I came to appreciate
after I had seen everything else.
Sometimes we cannot fathom what we have
until we have to leave it.
The hiatus is necessary,
for one cannot paint the full beauty of his subject
until he steps back and beholds her
from a sufficient distance.
Chicago,
forgive me for doubting you.
I am returning home to your arms wide open.
Your magnanimity is well worth your numbing winds.
Your expanse, adventures well worth your tardy buses.
Your food well worth the long journeys.
Your beaches well worth your snow.
Your prize well worth the wait.
