[I stop walking to take my earbuds out]
L: “You have great hair!”
D: “What’s that?”
[I heard her fine, I need to stop doing that]
L: “You have great hair!”
D: “Oh, thank you so much! I was going to stop and tell you that your entire outfit made my day!”
[The woman is a lifelong New Yorker, a living breathing rainbow on a bench and the pot of gold at the end of it — head to totebag, all I can remember is a wild fuzzy blue coat and maybe some even wilder yellow flame hair and thick-rimmed glasses that were colorful, too, and god there were so many sequins I almost couldn’t look at her directly, it was really sunny that day. I hope I look that happy when Im older. She holds a long expensive cigarette, its fresh, I suspect Dunhill Reds, man those were good, strong but good]
L: “Oh thank you, I’m quite famous, you know.”
D: “No, who are you?”
L: “Ive got a new show at The Beechman. From New York, You Don’t Get A Divorce.”
D: “Oh, I’ll have to check it out.”
[I actually googled it]
D: “I’m a street photographer and it’s a shame I dont have my camera, or I was actually going to ask to take your portrait.”
L: “The name’s Lou Craft.”
[She extends her non-smoking hand, its an elegant handshake]
D: “Nice to meet you, Lou Craft. I’m Daniel. I had part of a joint a few blocks back, would’ve loved to share it with you instead. Enjoy the rest’ your cigarette.”
L: “Next time!”
[For some reason I feel like there will and wont be a next time]
[The sun is leaving the west side and the soft bright-eyed sky shines with that special orangey-yellowy-pink maybe-something-good-is-just-around-the-corner sorta shade. I play the silly but lovely rat movie soundtrack for a few blocks. Do we all wish something big and wonderful would finally happen to us? When do we all get to be dogs running in the park? I don’t want to know how fast or slow I’m walking now]
[I squeeze through two women who have far too many balloons to be walking on the scaffolding side of the street together, but it makes me smile and giggle all goofy to myself before I even squeeze through. I step around a man crushing peanuts for the pigeons. I swear right now the breeze would push me to pieces]
[Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and I hope I’ll have an idea]
[Now im thinking about the museum this afternoon, looking around at all those parents and their kids on the ground using their backpacks for pillows looking up at the all-mighty great big blue whale that’s the size of the moon to those kids, the size of the whole world; and their parents’ entire worlds are right there next to them. I wish I could sit and stare at something like that, too]
[And I am what I am once again]