Your Sense of Humor Keeps Me Grounded in New York State

I want to say hello to you

face to face every day I'm away

cleansing myself in the river,

fetching buckets from the well.

I dive under the Mississippi,

swim to the gulf of Mexico,

cleansing myself of the Hudson,

missing the grit of the city

where we met yesterday,

saw a movie and I fell

downstream into your

captivity forever.

Even when I am swimming

 toward the sunlit surface,

 I can reach out to touch your hand

 -- we are still together in the current.

Your red sunrise comes

an hour before my own;

I can feel the warmth

even here, away from home.

Reach out and touch me through the waves,

your smile is my New York State.