I had an hour until I was meeting
My dear friend
So I walked down Sixth Avenue
From 48th to 3rd
Down past Bryant Park 
Through Herald Square where the bells were heralding the hour 
Past Michaels 
Past the turrets of the Jefferson Market Library 
Into the West Village 
How amazing that the city now
Holds so many memories
Remember being here
Sixteen years ago
And wishing it was where I was lived
How lovely to not need a map
To have Vietnamese in the Village after work
And a drink in an underground bar
To ride the uptown A
And smile at the elderly couple  
Sitting with their legs crossed toward each other 
Her glamorous hat
(Does anybody still wear a hat?!
She does, and well)
The matching gold rings that they've been wearing for fifty odd years
The way they were talking about Hamlet 
They got off the subway at 59th Street 
They probably bought their apartment for a song
Way back when in the Olden Days 
How amazing it is to call NYC home
​I hope I get to be old here, too. 

The uptown C
Wasn't running from 50th
And the entrance for the 1 
Was closed for maintenance 
And it was cold 
And windy 
And spitting rain 
But the forced change in direction
The altered commute 
Meant that I spotted a row of trees
Seemingly suspended in mid-air
Decked out in fairy lights
A magical slice of fairy forest
​In the middle of the urban jungle 

It’s a chilly, grey and dismal
Day in New York City
But you’re walking uptown in Harlem
With your dear friend
And you're singing 
The opening refrains of RENT
Together
Like no one is listening
And your heart feels big and bursting
And you don’t even feel the cold
And your 16-year-old self
Can’t quite believe
This is her life

I’ve been drilling
The notes
Slowing the tempo
Picking it up again
Figuring the trickier passages
Trying to get them into my bones
It’s fun to get to rehearsal
To see how much progress has been made
And how much work there’s still left to do
The joy of showing up
And doing the work

The warmth of
A bright blue sky
London fog tea 
And a sticky date bun 
A dear friend 
Making you laugh and 
The way it stays with you
All day. 

Bless the theatre kids 
On a Broadway field trip
The way they leaned forward in their seats
Whispered to each other 
Look at how they do that! 
Do you see?
The raw emotion 
The sheer excitement 
At the end, the kid in the Les Mis school show jacket
With Thenadier emblazoned across the back
Was weeping 
His classmates were just as moved 
"Did you hear his falsetto?! It was crazy! We have work to do!" 
"My life has been forever changed!" 
Remember that rush when you first started seeing shows 
Remember that feeling of possibility 
Remember the feeling of wanting to do that
It hasn't gone away
Though it has been tempered a little 
By auditions
The reality of the business 
Having cancer 
The cost of New York
Being formerly married to someone who didn't support your dream 
But watching the theatre kids watch the show
It reminded you of you
The kid with RENT and Chicago and The Pajama Game on repeat
And her heart and soul
Were beaming. 

Coming home after work
Turning on a free concert 
Alanis Morissette at Austin City Limits 
Her songs have been my soundtrack for
Almost three decades
It's like visiting an old friend 

The loveliness 
Of meeting a dear friend
On the east side of 
Midtown, in 
A coffee shop
That is also a florist
Feeling like I was sitting in a
​Modern day fairy forest
Surrounded by roses
And the chatter of voices 

What a joy and a luxury 
To see such a gorgeous sumptuous opera 
The way Zeffirelli paints on the stage 
Using bodies and sets
And splashes of color 
The way a soprano's voice can float across the hall 
All the way into the gods 
What it feels like to watch over a hundred people
Lift their hands to the sky together 
Puccini's soaring score 
Resonating in my bones 
Remembering Abuela playing the music 
Thinking of her
And how much she would love this 
How thankful I am
For the gift of
Enjoying opera

As an usher
There is something 
Hilariously humbling
In pushing a squeaky wheel
During a quiet moment
In full view of 900 people