Nothing Could Be Better

Nothing could be better than city lights across the New York harbor,
or taxi brake lights reflecting red on the wet blacktop of Madison Avenue.

Nothing could be better than an antique store you stumble into
to escape the heat during an Alphabet City summer.

I’ve lived for early morning subway rides,
egg and cheese bagels amidst cool, fall colors.

Serendipity may be touristy,
but I fell in love with their frozen hot chocolate.

And I found the city’s soul on Stone Street,
those cobblestones forever keeping the footprints of the first New Yorkers.

Nothing could be better than jazz music embracing the brown stones
drifting around Upper West Side corners.

Late night thin-crust pizza,
After calling it a night at Barramundi’s.

Central Park,
5th floor walk-ups,
Little West 12th Street,
The Frying Pan.

Nothing could be better than the city of New York,
Except, maybe you, Chicago.