To New York

Dedicated to the city I was born in, and why I left it.

I'm sorry but I could never love you now
After I have seen your true colors and
Your wrath which others mark up as your glory;
They spew that they are stronger, able to
Take the scrutiny you expose upon
Your residents, like some disastrous plague,
But it is no real pleasure to survive
The disease if you're still subject to the symptoms,
And this is why I have moved away.

I walk amidst the streets of Manhattan
Past a quarry of ducks you call your own,
Business men, ducks in suits, quacking away
With profanity and judgment of their
Peers; they sure are superior, they think.
And in a dive on 53rd Street, I
Vanish into insignificance as one
Duck flies in for his feeding, alcohol
In a "dress shirt" by Ed Hardy and shoes
By Louis Vitton, a walking rap song!
To me, he is comical in his skin.

But now that I am gone, I see you
In the faces of the others out here,
They long to be amongst the ducks
Soaring through what they consider endless skies,
And I don't have the courage to say its
All a lie! For your ducks cannot fly high,
They don't wish to; they live beside a lake
That's more plentiful than anywhere else,
But they only assume this because they
Have never really left! But I have now,
And your ignorance, to me, is comical.

Author's Note

Definitely not a finished product but I just wanted to get this one up. PS, if you have never been to New York, A New York accent has been compared to a duck's quack...hope that helps the imagery. Let me know what you think.

Reviews

[Clarisse Nanoit]

I love this also! You are very talented. Your metaphor here is quite interesting, and it works well. Maybe all they really want to be is geese, but deep down they know they are inadequate. This reminds me of a theme of Catcher In The Rye--if you've never read it you should--where Holden Caulfield asks random people throughout the book where the ducks from the pond in Central Park go when the pond is frozen. Interesting, if not intentional, parallel. Great piece!
KH

[William Maisonave]

I still live in the rotten apple and I can relate to this poem so strongly. There was a time I loved and was fiercly loyal to this City where I was born and raised. Where I explored experimented and played...but as I grow older and see more clearly I see the pretense, the ignorance...pity the the young dreams. For alot of times the sucess they seek is an illusion most will never realize...and the few who do often wake up in a world they are unhappy in, wondering why they fought so hard to build this life they now despise.

[pillosopher]

Best Read

[Vanessa]

Being a New Yorker, this poem caught my eye. I must say you've really captured the unromantic view the city has to offer. As it's easy to be distracted by all the lights, size, and sounds. Thanks for the honesty.

[Emily Rae]

the grass is never greener on the other side; in this case, there isn't any grass anyway...

[Beautifully Tragic xPoe..]

Nice touch on the quacking metaphors, I love the city but I can understand your reasonings. Clever, intriguing piece. Wonderfully written.

[Poetic Beauty]

This is a great way to describe NY and the way you see it. Others long to go there and live that kind of life while you have left knowing what the city is like and now feel differently than you did before. You did well with your descriptions and I like the use of "ducks" in your poem.

[Joiedevivre]

such a great aphorism to the city so many revere! I lived in NY and had some similar thoughts. Great poem, smirked all the way through!

[Christina May Shanaberg]

I, only, visit New York City in passing. I like to just go on the ferry ride out to the Statue of Liberty, if there is an available space within a million miles; then, get the heck out of there, through that tunnel under the water into New Jersey. I believe that several people own every vehicle in New York and each of the owners must drive them for a certain period of time, each and every day, because there is no place to park them, certainly. Eight and a half million people need to find the rest of the country! Loved your write!!

[Coyote Poetry]

New York is like all cities. Always a separation of the poor and the rich. In the North we are more honest. When I was station in California. They would give the homeless a bus ticket and money to lave the tourist areas. I like the directness of this poem. Thank you for the excellent poem.
Coyote

[Nothing Personal]

New York is probably the subject of endless poems, fiction, music and movies. I always like to see something on it. This is quite different of what one would expect from a work on NYC. Yes, there's that hypocritical assertion that a New Yorker has, living in the greatest city of the world and probably the most happening as well. But like its charm, one should never get carried away by label and forget about the real stuff below, I can connect with this.. It's a personal opinion and atleast you have brought forth some grounding to an overhyped phenemenon; being a New Yorker may not be all great and gooey all the time. I like your honesty and sincerity in this one