A New York Story From China To Church... Poem by Frank James Ryan Jr...fjr

A New York Story From China To Church...



The trip to Chinatown was symbolic
of any space communed by a culture
either from a desire for acceptance,
or a fear of others non-acceptance
should they be so bold and dare
to cross the virtual border,
separating their space from another's.
The streets of Chinatown bare the rush
of merchants vying, negotiating retail,
while creating an ambience of excitement
for themselves, and those from elsewhere
who have come to New York to see it all.

Chinatown, short of nothing but magnificence;
restaurants, a multitude of value stores
at every corner, like the Bowery
Little Italy...the nights of Broadway,
or that Village they call Greenwich.

Took a yellow cab uptown
to take in yet a different scene,
an' aside from the huge scrapers,
that seem to trump the clouds,
the faces, the cultures and colors
were all the same, especially upon-
entering the Cathedral of St. Patrick,
traffic always a buzz of tourists n' 'Yawkers';
and when I knelt down before
one of its hundred ' one altars,
I had to ask Him, how a Megatropolis
as multi-cultured as New York City
could for the most part all get along,
when chances are if these people
were in their own birth homeland,
that such comradery might be replaced
with a cold air of bigotry...

Of course there was no reply,
as I stared at the bronze Crucifix,
So, I lit my votive candle,
dropped a Jackson in the Box,
which God knows, won't even pay
for the Sunday missalettes that come
in many tongues, a potpourri of language.

From Chinatown to St Patrick's
not so much to report as different;
New York City, just shy of 10 million
from dozens upon dozens of the worlds
many countries. Perhaps this be
the reason why the United Nations is here.
Oh, yes, and as for that private
moment at St. Patrick's Cathedral,
with 'The Man', Himself, I did get my answer,
in fact I had it, the moment I
walked into the Cathedral...
It's the merging of people, for whatever
reasons...be it business, finance,
romance or other...whether or not
they go home each night or dance 'til dawn,
it's all about the people and their knowing
that survival and happiness
are only achieved through acceptance
and the myriad of commonalities, each have
with one another; and we do, and it will reap
many good seeds and fruit, so long as we all
work together.

Someone asked me the other day
what I like so much about The City,
and being a born New Yorker...My reply?
''The People and what each have to offer
in making this City the most majestic
city on Earth. And BTW, as per the 2014
National Crime Report, the fact that
New York, for the 4th straight year
has been declared the safest large city
on Earth''.

It's the people, yes, it is, from so many
spaces, sections, neighborhoods, areas
and boroughs. So, Just think, now for a moment,
what the World could accomplish, if they
took just a few pages from the New York
State of Mind. We're not perfect, far from it,
but ever since the that Tuesday morning
of September 11,2001...It's after effect
has and continues to go on, and on,
and hopefully will never end.

Nine-Eleven (9-11) was by far New York's worst anathema
in the city's long history of tragedies.
Yet, more than that, New York considered 9-11
a direct terrorist act against their State,
against their country, against all Earth's countries
that display the practice of decent humankind,
but foremost an inexplicable display
of so many emotions for New Yorkers,
as these people who carried this out, killed so many
of their own in each of those buildings,
as well as on the plane in Pennsylvania and as well,
as at the Pentagon in Washington D.C.
Three-thousand dead in New York City inless than 2 hours,
and many of the Muslim Faith...Yet these blasphemous thugs
and their brain convoluted leaders called it
a holy war...one for their god! If ever there were
an oxymoron to rank as Best, it would gave to be
the phrase...''holy war''!

Yet as early as late that same afternoon,
there was an obvious renaissance in the making,
as well as a change in how all of us here,
from many countries, of many colors, creeds
and lifestyles, were all as one, together,
in defiance of the notion that New York City
had been defeated...And that spirit and mantra
was so very strong and contagious, that by the very
next morning, people from all over the world
were en route to Ground Zero to lend whatever
they had to offer, and well, I think we all know
that New York did survive...with a lot of help
from many people of many colors, of many cultures,
of many creeds, within and outside the City,
the State, the Country, throughout the World.


FjR-MMXVI

Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Topic(s) of this poem: culture,new york,people power
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Frank James Ryan Jr...fjr

Frank James Ryan Jr...fjr

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