This poem comes from a journal, I wrote in a notepad from 9/21/07. I remember, the day very well. I was fed up with my work situation, in Jersey City, and I was sent home because business was slow. That evening, my loft mate (fellow poet, Dain Michael Down) and I went to a bar, in Downtown JC. It was pouring, we were soaked and to come in from the rain to a bar full of women, would of made my evening but I was feeling empty. I told Dain, I had to go to NYC. He looked surprised and told me to be careful. I knew my other loft mates were partying in, "The City," and I wanted to see what they were up to. They were pretty trashed and couldn't give me directions but they offered me a cab to meet up with them. I refused, I couldn't pay them back. My loft mates, Adal and Vivian, were really concerned, that I would do something stupid but I assured them that getting out was something I needed to do. I ended up roaming the streets to find what I was missing. It wasn't in a bar or club but at the corner East 20th and Ave C:
The great escape is taking the time to laugh at yourself
You don't need a destination to find happiness
Right now, I don't exactly have a lot of money but I'm finding peace here
Staring out, towards the water
Sitting on a bench at East 20th and Ave C
Observing the drunk girl standing out on the rocks
Watching crashes against the barge, in humid air
I look up at a starless sky
Through the light pollution
Finding what I didn't see on the other side of the river
That I belong in the city, that most of us try to lose ourselves in
Fitting in does not come from trying
The perfect shot is not impossible
You just don't have to aim
Your third eye is held by others who use it as a looking glass
They know more about you than you think
Looking back at this, I could really do without the last stanza.
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