Smells of NYC

this weekend we were in new york City

the city with capital C

me, my love and my baby

4th of July 2008

it smelled linden trees across the Central Park

where the rain soaked to our skin and deep inside

my love was rethinking the whole concept

if we did right to come all this way

if he was willing to sacrifice the day

we walked next to each other

baby was sleeping

as rain continued to drop here and there

as the huge trees whispered to our ears

"You re in the right track"

my tired legs were untied

we crossed all the way

hand in hand

it smelled shish kebabs at every corner

with their whirling smoke making the pedestrians dumb

as we turn and turn to find the points-of-interest

transformed into City dervishes in strange ecstasy

always on watch, my guiding angel,

and my eyes on our little one

who acknowledges the crowd with a cheerful smile

it smelled musky lavender or a perfume I cannot describe

men and women of the manhattan island wear it all along

as they pass by its aroma makes a statement bound to be forgotten

among many smells that surrounds the Big Apple

(everyone has her bite, if the city bites you not)

as if in a melting pot it mixes all the smells,

like humid subway corridors,

or the overly air conditioned rich perfumes

lurking from the richest apartment etrances

the only smell that lingers

the only natural essence that the City cant melt

is my love and my baby's smell

close to my heart, always there

Meva Ayse