Windows on the World

Oh, it was such a thing! A happening!
Like the 8th wonder of the world
107 stories up in the air, atop a giant skyscraper
All New York was atwitter with the newest addition
To that greatest city in the world.

Our friends got to go;
I don’t know how
They insisted that we had to have the experience
They invited us, we accepted the invitation
Yes, they would make reservations
Oh, they couldn’t wait
But oh, wait we did
The earliest reservation they could get
To this cloud piercing, view master, culinary wonder
Was nine months later
We marked our calendars (we had calendars to write in back then)
Anticipation.

The day arrived.
We were giddy with excitement.
The high-speed elevator was like an amusement park ride to me
Ears crackling and stomach plunging to the floor
And finally doors opened to that view. That panorama
The Big Apple. Gotham. Capitol of the world.
Laid out in splendor for all the lucky ones to see
An eagle’s eye view from the giant aerie in the sky
Breathtaking, eye popping, awe inspiring.

It is so hard to compute that it is gone
Along with all the floors below
And its twin next door.
Twenty years ago, on that fateful day
The Towers, the signature of New York’s success and power
Crumbled to dust. A pile of rubble
All those lives lost.

And our hosts, they are gone as well.
Our friends so much a part of our lives
Gone in the AIDS epidemic
Just as it was reaching out its ugly claws back then.

I am glad I have the remembrance
Of that day, that place, that wonder
Of our friends, so thrilled to see our reaction
Of us, so happy to be sharing their joy
It rests like a little gem in my memory bank.
And makes me cry just the same.