In the city, this quiet city, the buildings loom

trunk by naked trunk

giants in a shrinking world

and we forget that in the city, in this city, so loud and so still

we burn here.

we burn here daily; the singers

the preachers

the lonely

and the alone.

and when you have lived in the city, in this city, for long enough,

you must learn everything again.

you must teach yourself slowly, how to see

how to be

how to stop

how an i becomes a we.

and slowly you find that you, alone and lonely, like a flower or a tree

have hands that have not forgotten

how to grow towards the light.

 

Stay strong New York, we’re thinking of you.

Find more of Rellikhour’s wonderous photography at their tumblr, https://rellikhour.tumblr.com/. Words by us.