dear new york,

i realized that i had fallen in love with you the morning after, (pause)
in the middle of tracing ghandi on your wrist and wiz khalifa on your hip bone.
i loved the way you smelled like dew drops and gasoline
how every day you polluted my mind with poetry of another language
chinese learned in the alleys wedged between noodle kings and shrimp buffets
remind me again how to say sleep en espanol
because i know that’s what you crave.
professional insomniacs like you get paid in
memories and flashbacks
cashing in recollections you have long pushed back into the dusty shelves of your mind.
you have lived through nights when all you could hear was your own voice, echoing down from rooftops, reminding you how much you could fall.
i wanna hold you when you crumble to ground zero
just remember that eyes as beautiful as those will always be remembered
those calloused hands that have worn and torn will someday redeem themselves watering hopes as tall as monuments
planting dreams as tall as skyscrapers.
i had fallen in love with the way
you prayed at night,
whispering to buddha and jesus and allah because you can never make up your mind,
pleading them to pause your hourglass just for a little bit so
you had enough time to tell your legs to slow down at the middle of that avenue.
you don’t always have to rush.
i had fallen in love with the way
you placed smiles into the palms of war veterans huddled in cardboard boxes
with the way 'don't stop believing' is laced into your heart.
darling, when people look upon my face they tell me all they see is you because your splendor reflects beneath my palms as you lead me towards the dance floor and we waltz under the glimmer of artificial lights.
when you're in love the imperfections are rubbed away,
cupid's bow was an eraser,
and it doesn't matter if i get stepped on my toes as long as you are my last dance.
when i kiss you goodnight,
i want you to believe me when i tell you
that you are a reverse one night stand
i will fall asleep to your gentle breathing
but wake up in the morning and fall in love all over again.