Tuesday, June 3, 2008

checking out, checking in new york


I came to New York to check out, and let go of any agenda I've had of late. But, of course, New York is all about checking in: to the shops, clubs and cafes around Karen's West Village apartment where I usually stay; the yoga shala on Broome St. where I practiced with Pattabhi Jois after 9/11 changed everything, and with the friends who've moved here to bump up their work another notch. While Karen's been in Colorado, her poetry-filled bookshelves bespoke her work (and recent and upcoming publications); practicing at Ashtanga Yoga Shala still felt more like India that any other such studio I've happened upon in the states; Jamie was holding down his new(ish) cafe, Abraco, on 7th St. quite well, and the New York music theater community had wholeheartedly embraced Peter's music. I spent half of Monday with Peter, walking all over Lower Manhattan, talking art, cities and process, checking out guitar shops and getting the long view of NYC from the Staten Island Ferry. It was a gorgeous, HOT, day in the big apple, and it cleared my head.
Below are some of my 'snapshots,' in first-thought/best thought haiku form rather than digital, (or rewritten & polished):

New York Afternoon Haikus, 6/2/08

Liberty arms stretched
birds fly over cookie crumbs

no quarters in till

Batter Park noon

tea in the flask tabletop
people catch up on life

Tip of Manhattan

wings of pigeons abstract design
no literalness

Leaves falling in June
sun beats down her aging skin

clouds drift over Jersey

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