Celebrating the Independence

I have the city to myself
Since all the people with means have fled it
I have the city to myself and
I have enjoyed this independence and freedom
A city of tourists and me
Strange faces and voices that do not belong here
I don't belong here either
A tourist that decides to stay
Bars and restaurants are empty
You don't need to go out to meet with people
Since there are no people to be met or wait for
And I have been thinking to myself
Thinking out aloud
I wrote down some words
Looking at the firework over East River
I heard people say: who do you think have made them
The Chinese, I think the Chinese have made
these beautiful firework
Yes, they make them and children die from it
But we are admiring the beauty of it now
People were smiling or hugging
I started to walk back
Along the empty sidewalks of the city
Breathing the foggy air filled with dust from the firework
And the thunder continued until I reached Lexington Avenue
It is the night of Independence day
It is a day I received an e-mail from afar
from a friend, with a poem
And stories about a fun weekend
somewhere out west
It is a weekend that I have kept mainly for myself
Myself and this city
We enjoyed each other in a silence and tension
that felt almost close to love