4 Days in Manhattan - 5 One More Novelty

In Central Park
A large outside screen is
Displaying a peculiar mix of pics:
Views of the Eiger blended with those of Prague Castle.
Nobody's watching besides me, eftsoons sidetracked
By the squirrels of an unknown gray
And the ubiquitous blackbirdish robins.

No one ever watches what I am watching
––Neither in Central Park nor anypark else––
But when I have a look at someone
Working out on top of a terrace, for example, or
Simply slouching on the grass:
This someone here will assuredly look back.
(Well, I'm not used to that kind of visual exchange.
In my prideful City of Lights it hardly ever happens that
Someone minds someone's gander at someone before a while.
Thus for pretty a spell it's like beholding a wall ad.)
I am mostly stunned by this presence
Of mindfulness.

I walk with my fresh eyes
I observe and
I am observed back. I look visible
In this novel place for these novel fellowmen
As if I were as novel as them.
I am positively stunned.

June 14, 2008