A MANHATTAN DAY

Reading Whitman at ten
when feeding pigeons
at the brownstone
on a sunny Manhattan day
while having salmon salad
on a cream cheese bagel
at an outside cafe with dad
others are playing
chess or backgammon
talking about Hegel
who digress on Stalingrad
with a dream for peace
if we are to survive
going for my violin lesson
a Woody Allen comedy movie
then to visit the abstract artists
the Strand a used bookstore
and listening to jazz
on a Harlem bandstand
to make us feel alive and free.