Carly J. Houser

this city is on my side poem no. 1

 

the day we had lunch with elizabeth wurtzel
michele koury and i parted ways with her on 50th and 3rd
and we walked to the empire state building
but only after we started walking to central park

dreaming of sitting on a rock and talking about
the sadness of women or the sadness of literature
or the sadness of us because we wanted it to be like
some re-creation of an unplanned goodbye

and i almost cried talking about the sadness
of other people's parents and other people's families
and other people's houses and we went to an office on the 76th floor 

and we saw all of new york city
including central park but i don't know if
i saw a rock
and for once
the giants weren't mysterious
and shrouded and wearing
something i don't think i
have any eyes to see
it was like
finally they were just standing
in front of me
we told her she was our
woody guthrie
and it was an interesting
feeling
and i thought this might be what destiny means
a corner office
on the 76th floor
and wanting
to be treated like
a daughter not
a lover
and having no idea
how to be either

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Carly J. Houser grew up in the Pacific NW.  She won statewide writing awards during her high school years, including the Washington State Letters About Literature 2005-2006.  After high school graduation, she entered Sarah Lawrence College. She fulfilled her dream to move away from the Pacific Northwest to live the life of an artist in New York City. Carly died in the spring of 2011 from a drug overdose. She left behind hundreds of pages of writing.