In Between "I" and "NY"

We stood holding hands,

On top of the World Trade Center
Wanting to see all we could
Of the city, wishing
We could leap out
Into the world, together
And land, wherever
We wanted.  We never
Thought of falling.

I nudged him, and pointed
To the nuns wearing
T-Shirts with red hearts
That bled in the middle
Of "I" and "NY," and I
Said to him, "I thought
they loved God."  I thought
I loved him, too.

We rode the elevator
Down with the nuns
And all of the other
World Trade tourists
Who loved New York
That day.  We didn't realize
That so many people
Never even think of leaping
Without falling, anymore
We didn't realize that
Someday, we would forget
Why we wanted to

Jump off, in the first place.

We couldn't see then,
That leaping means having
To fall, and that falling
Means having to land
Somewhere.
And maybe we thought
The landing would be softer
And maybe we thought
We could land
Somewhere else.

But it wasn't, and we couldn't
And NY is just New York
And I am only I, myself
And somewhere in between -
My heart still bleeds.