-Manhattan rising

sleepless night in the city —

waking with the light without ever having gone to sleep,

eyes kept open by the night as a dark sun against my lids,

still the feel of lashes fluttering against cheeks

when the world lights up:

like a black and white movie that slowly turns to colour

first bathing the empty streets in pale shades of blue,

soft muslin that veils the grey pavement

to forget that anyone else ever walked the same street,

when I walk without the rest of the slumbering city.

The long avenue is a slow river

that flows straight down through town;

my steps like the clapping of water against stone,

even as the shade of blue muslin melts with the towers

and the sky, to forge a dome of stained glass

to keep out the slumber of the rest

while I walk down the paved river.

The pale blue city is waking up but for a little while it was all mine,

woken up by the city’s early morning sleep

while sleepless one night in the city.