August 16, 2024 - “The City Woos You Back” by Betsy Guttmacher
Beloved city I have been unfaithful
I fell in love with creeks rail trails Rosa rugosa
dipped my feet in the mineral cold of the Rio Grande
strapped on snowshoes in backcountry but all this beauty
was never mine not the way you belong to me
and I to you
Countless times my heart said done
My heart said abandon run
you with your sidewalk sparrows eating chicken wings
how can you do this force us to gnaw our own kin
in broad daylight I made plans
bucolic plans out-buildings and a meadow
Still I drag garbage to curb toss other people’s dog shit bags
my car street cleaning the purgatory
later I walk the entire length of Vanderbilt Avenue
high from wine and women friends the magic hour
orange light bounces off red brick Brooklyn
off the leafy view from a venetian verandah
Impossible buildings dragged from all over the world
reassembled all of us tucked in never alone
again you give this walk this moment a life
its Wonder Wheel its density and mirrors
forgive me when I forget to look or can’t bear to
Tonight autumn crisps each street light
bellies full dodge weave hipitty hop every face a smile
everywhere hands are touching and you beloved city
fingers entwine with mine we walk
we whisper lip to ear lovers again
Betsy Guttmacher is a Reiki practitioner based in Brooklyn, NY USA who works privately with individuals, and in community and medical settings. Her creative and healing work centers relationships - to ourselves, each other and our planet. She is a member of the Sweet Action Poetry collective and a contributor to three of its chapbooks. Her poems can be found in the forthcoming Bullshit Lit 2024 Anthology, Bowery Gothic, the Brooklyn Poets Anthology, and the Bridge
