When I moved into this undistinguished building
passable yes beautiful no corner of Columbus
and 77th the neighborhood was
a different place. I liked the apartment because of the shape
of the rooms, and the windows, not
elegance, or views. I was an office temp and I often wore
a dress to work a friend had made with domino buttons.
working on a novel intended to be a language dance
called Mango Tango and my roommate, Emily Sterling,
studied acting at NYU. Our neighbors were more or less
like us. No one had an MBA or talked about money
except like this: I Hope I Can Pay the Rent.
Over the years the city changed. Some from The Old Days
still live right here and many came after: younger, different.
And here we all in the pandemic. Locked in together
city building that is a city neighborhood some evenings
we who barely said hello for years meet in the hall with glasses of wine
and we talk because we are here together and because we all
miss people and because it is the pandemic and we understand
how much we need each other now.
I remember parties in your apartment, Esther. Was the domino dress before or after CALC? I don't remember that. ==Barbara