Spring Enters the City

High over the Hudson spired aeries
gleam in the sunset, casting long shadows
below in the streets
where scurrying commuters
follow prescribed paths.
At a sidewalk table rich coffee steams
delightful for so late in the day
and a woman with red shoes pauses to savor
the gift of spring in the city
hands wrapped around her cup.
Daylight lingers at the corners
shining through the scaffolding and posters
that hide the skeleton of the Russian Tea Room,
just two doors from Carnegie Hall
where families laden with flowers
await their children's debut performance
on the hallowed ground.
Later, they pour from the edifice into a night
bursting with light and sound
from city doors flung open to the warmth.
Travelers taxi to the river, ferry-bound
and turn their faces to the skyline
now enrobed in strands of light
a great lady of night, bejeweled, becalmed,
as spring enters the city.