I wrote this poem during the One City One Prompt event coordinated with Swirl and the Creative Righting Center on September 18, 2011.
Concrete Steps
The streets of New York City
become more smoothly choreographed.
We don't bump or push or
get into quarrels because of such small infractions worsened by ego.
We glide past one another,
light breezes, punctuated by easy smiles.
I open a door for you and you open a door for the next person.
Subway seats are offered regularly and
Sam Cooke plays on the speakers.
When the train's doors close, no one is stuck in between.
Cars don't honk and no one yells "F-U" from the driver's-side open window.
Neat rows of cars slow down at yellow and calmly make their way through
intersections at green.
Life is slower because we savor the minutes and each movement.
And we work to be happy.
We practice.
There is no time for fighting, cursing, or pushing each other.
We know that it ruins the dance.
But first we have to realize that we are all in it together.
One dancer slips and we all go off course.
We join together to learn the same movements.
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