I sit stunned for a moment when I finally make myself subtract out the years. Once upon a time I flew away. All by myself.
Window seat on the plane when I actually cared about such things. Nose pressed to the glass. When the plane curled around Manhattan, my eyes reached out hungrily, greedily for the city that seemed close enough, even soft enough, to wrap my arms around. Just like so many before me. And so many after.
My fingers grip the handle of a prized remnant from my Bat Mitzvah, a nubbled suitcase, my initials stenciled in gold. Once in the cab, the blasts of sound tremble through the glass, an undefinable melange of tumbling squeals with a few muffed, but still alarming screams. We move with a herky jerky stop start through the streets. I am avidly keeping track of all the Gristedes and dry cleaners as we move uptown. Just in case.
At the corner of 92nd and Lexington Avenue we stop. Single sex, single bed, double room, bathroom down the hall. The 92nd Street Y. But a place of welcome, of generosity, of possibility. My new home.
From here I will walk down Lexington all the way to 50th Street in the mornings and back up on Third to 92nd every evenings. I walk not for exercise but to save the bus fare. Each week I will buy a loaf of bread and a jar peanut butter from one of the Gristedes for lunches and dinners. I will hoard my quarters to sip instead the sludgy black coffee at work. But I will work at Knopf, the most sublime of publishing houses. And I will live where John Cheever spoke, where Martha Graham danced, where E.O. Wilson lectured. The 92nd Street Y.
In some ways, this is where I begin.
Yesterday, a lifetime or two away from then, I returned.
We walk together, my son Jared and I, the same streets, the same steps, the same Gristedes. He holds my hand to help me over the curbs, watches for the lights to make sure I stay safe. Back again to the 92nd Street Y. Once again, the welcome is oh so warm. Kind. Generous.
But this time the doors are opening for him. This evening, as we ascend the staircase we rise to listen to renowned poet Laura Kaschiche read from her own work. Her poems are by turns intimate and expansive, heart wrenching and hilarious.
She is his professor, his mentor, his friend. From the stage she calls his name. “Jared.”
My heart skips a beat.
The reading ends. At the first wave of tumultuous applause I squeeze his hand then head for the door. He turns to meet her. The applause continues. His turn, his home. Our joy.
THE BIRDS: ROCK DOVE by Jared Frank https://entropymag.org/the-birds-rock-dove/
My mouth has been fogged and cottony, the haggard repetition of mundane meals dulling my taste buds and muting my wintery senses. A conveyer belt of tedium: tepid tea and goodforme, mulitgrain toast, neon orange baby carrots dutifully dipped in bland hummus, blanched chicken breasts and burned burgers. Squinch my eyes shut and I’m sure I couldn’t tell one from the other. I root through the cupboards with the crazed abandon of a raccoon foraging through the trash but alas, come up unsated and empty handed.
The Chiapati
notes from the room in my head 