Washington Heights

(Ekphrastic song based on J. T. Kady's "Untitled")

You make the best cup of coffee in the city

because it is made by your hands

we talk ourselves to exhaustion in the evenings

but haven’t run out of things to say

In the late afternoon we walk to Tryon Park

the daffodils are bursting like suns

the star magnolia blossoms wrap the tree in a gown

anemones and heather, and everybody spring-shy and kind

The Hudson is wide, the George is getting brighter in the dusk

I hold a hand in mine, we walk home by the Cloisters

here is a garden at the top of the apartment

here is a nest in a concrete maze

and a love not second-guessing; I am safe

and we still haven’t run out of things to say