Aditi's Reflection on the "Queens Panorama"

Tinges of Realization

We are lost in a maze
a concrete jungle

We jump block to block
street to avenue

we wait in lines hours long
we commute for even longer

so much to do so much to see

too much to do too much to see

center of the world
the biggest apple of everyone's eye

you can complain
complain about the strange smells and sights
complain about the looming buildings and the vast emptiness of the boroughs
complain about the individual boroughs, label them, stereotype them
complain about the crowds and the criminals
complain about the typical, unfriendly New Yorker

But
don't ever say it's not special.

_________

it is understandable

that a miniature of something so colossal, so overwhelming
would be colossal and overwhelming in itself

a college day trip, a train ride to Queens
and a breathtaking view of the monument to one of the world's greatest living wonders.

_________

we have skewed images in our minds.

sometimes,
we just need that extra nudge
that vertical tilt, that staggering impossibility
to push our minds over the edge

and freefall into the
fathomless canyon
of deeper understanding.