New York

With open arms, you welcomed me
To your streets,
With your swanky charm.

Evoking a sultry nocturnal quality
But remaining aggravatingly unmoving
On the importance of sunrise.

You flipped your tailcoats
And strutted your high rise heels
You were so quickly irresistible.

Making it almost possible
Not to notice
Sidewalk stained blankets
And crumbling brick.

You shackled us to your steel underbelly
From Brooklyn to the Bronx
Flowing through the steamy bright of day
Into blaring night.

—Elizabeth Anderson ’14