A beautiful sunny afternoon in 1981
At the window I look out at a sidewalk
It looks like it goes on forever,
Circling the globe coming back
On the opposite side

The wind blows in
warm fumes
The birds fly and the sun gets in my eyes
Just for a moment and then

I see
The sign which says Flatbush and the
Other says Washington
The corner of our new home
The buildings taller than the imagination of a seven
year old

And just a few blocks away, this land of concrete and car horns,
Turns to the natural bliss of the Botanical Gardens
I went there once since coming to this city

I am absorbing the moment
It is interrupted by the corner
Of my eye which sees

A bike crossing the street
In the crosswalk
And along comes the vehicle which strikes the rider
Throwing him through the air landing on the never ending
sidewalk
To this day I wonder, if he survived the ambulance ride
Or if he died

-Manny Rivera-