Central park was in fine leafy green form
Bethesda Fountain
Looking radiant against a bright blue sky
An extended family of turtles
Paddling through the water in the lake just beyond

At the Alice in Wonderland statue
A grown man pretending to eat one of the mushrooms
His friend has an Alice in Wonderland themed t-shirt
With teacups and Mad Hatters and tumbling Alices
And he filmed her speaking to the camera in Portuguese
Lewis Carroll/Alice/Central Park

Both the Met and the Guggenheim were closed
But we ended up at Rockefeller
Ascended to the 70th floor
The views!
Oh New York, you are just breath taking

The last time I was up here
It was nearly 15 years ago
Before Aaron
Before cancer
Before immigration
With Kris
Before The breakup

And now, seeing the same view
Fifteen years later
Having lived on both sides of the island
And south of it
And been through
All of That
And having decided that I want to become a US citizen
It all just hits differently

And we had lunch at the Lexington Candy Story Luncheonette
And we had coffee at Little Collins where I became best friends with a 10month old whose mama was enjoying some pancakes
And we walked by Bryant Park
The little girl on the carousel! Marvelous!
And snuck into the Rose Reading Room

And then a Broadway show
& Juliet
Just delightful and heartwarming and exciting and fun
And dollar slice in the rain

And falling into bed
After another exhilarating and exhausting day