Outside Albany

The clouds hang in suspension

As we the train riders

Rotate around it

And it floats untouched by man

White on white

Grey shadows

Cottony 

While the green 

Blurs in horizontal lines

The clearings come and go

Showing farmland

Rivers

Rundown factories

Outside Albany

The flowers are blooming

Violets and tiger lilys 

The goslings grow more daring by the day

As the remnants of spring hang on for dear life

The trees are prostrated east

As the tropical storm 3,000 miles away

Whips the forceable wind 

Along the Hudson. 

I always needed luck

To prodigiously descend

And set me free

From the surly bonds of debt

The cripple of routine

Of listlessness

I cried out in frustration

That I could do no more, it would seem

To change this spiral of water-treading

This whole rationale:

That my efforts are exhausted

That there just isn't any room on my shelves

Is so profoundly off-base

So laughable

"If only I had money, my Little Bird"

- Malaika -

"I would marry you"

Well, you climb a few mountains

Order food in a different language

And pray and pray

And pray and pray

And pray and pray

Until suddenly you know

That somewhere

Outside Albany

The suspended clouds

The clearings, the tiger lilys

And the beating heart inside me

Can handle everything 

And anything

You've got in store for me.