1.

sitting in Tom's Restaurant waiting to order after crawling
out of the underground uptown train--
actually eating- blueberry muffin and coffee
Bill Clinton on TV is "profoundly sorry"

considering each dawn we've seen together
three in a row now
anticipating the next on a Harlem rooftop
with a view of CCNY and the YMCA of Richard Wright and Langston Hughes

coffee's cool now
no one speaks the English
i speak on my own deaf ears
mumbling Frank O'Hara
this city's poet
he sat quietly at counters
watched people and headlines
scribbled Lunch Poems
and waited
not for you-- that's my wait

hopefully this will be your poem
in a few days when i've cut out lines like these
i'll leave you with a paraphrase of perfection
poets are here to remind God of the things he's lost track of
or remind each other the other reasons we write
i lost my cat
or "O the glassy towns are fucked by yaks"
or that kid's pop bought him a T-shirt at Tom's Diner and snapped a photo
or i'm still waiting
on my second cup o' joe
it'll snow tomorrow

2.

now sitting next to you
jazz behind us
Michal's listing off train stops
you're playing with pipe and lighter

i'm wishing for quiet
more trading lines from books listening to nothing quietly
playing with each other's hair
you'll talk-- saying something

walking in the rain waiting for tomorrow's snow
stopping on some corner for a kiss
remembering walking all night two or is it three nights ago
sitting in Washington Square on cold concrete
talking about the futility of a plastic bag in a tree

3.

"a thousand miles and
a person gets lightheaded"
                                         -- David Clewell

finally some quiet
in Tempe, Arizona
you in Robert Watt Hall on West 113th street
or in the Village walking your sights
wishing we were both in Harlem
in that sunlit south-facing apartment on West 136th
that smelled of floor cleaner and freshness
when the landlady showed us
as we were leaving Michal's
so you could walk
me to the busstop
and you back to your dorm
both carrying a smile

thinking of our time together i can only smile
this memory or ten others
all in (was it?) 6 days
mostly nights all night
saw sunup evryday straight
climbing the ladder to Michal's roof
climbing the steps out of the Cathedral Pkwy subway
the sun climbing the trees in Riverside Park

it started with the most romantic
on-romantic evening i've ever had

even Samurai, Smith's Bar, a trip to the Staten Island Ferry that
stopped on 14th street
walking the village awake

the uptown subway ride
talking in your room til i decided
i was tired enough to ride the train back downtown

walking to the door
hugging, a look
a crooked finger
a kiss on your forehead
then two soft kisses on the lips

and i walked out of the building
carrying that smile

i walked around the corner onto Broadway
leaped into the air
kicked my feet together
and laughed out loud