March 2, 2025

You've been standing for a decade now

On the steps of St. Patrick's Cathedral,

Applauding the spectacle,

Ignoring the assaults in front of you.

You were wed 'neath these spires,

All under the clever disguise

Of God's eyes. You never lifted your veil,

Never doubted the way he made you feel.

You were well groomed, in love

With the rhetoric, the magic,

The promises laid out in floral magnificence.

He heard you pledge eternal fidelity

But never said the same in return.

To stand in this same spot as the world

Passes by is to commit to your dream,

Its gossamer threads and its perception

Of protection despite the violence

That surrounds you, shrapnel ripping

Through your costume, wounding you

As is his custom to want to do.

Your veil remains intact, unmoved

By the attacks both outside and within.

Must have been that Carny's epoxy

That secures it so well to you,

While his car plows through the crowd

Innocently mingling on 5th Avenue.