An empty wheel chair

6/7

Steady heavy rain falling all day.

Marty is on the steps. I greet him. He is very distant.. I can’t talk to you, he says, So I know he’s back in one of those cycles, the ones that bounced him out of CCNY so many years ago.

Jerry is sitting on the steps, waiting for Anthony. They’ve been together as long as many married couples. . After twenty years of commitment, aside from his mental health  issues, what is rightfully  his? What security does he have if Anthony no longer has the apartment? When he leaves, there’s an empty 40 on the steps. 

I enjoy watching people cross themselves as they pass by. One woman steps inside, faces the Tiffany Jesus, crosses herself and goes right back out again.

Glad to see Marina helping out Mitchell in the Noche office. They’re getting ready to take Antigone to the West Coast. Where she’s from. Bay Area.

Pressures are starting to mount. I need to get out. Go to see Jack, wish him a belated happy birthday. He introduces me to the poetry of Louise Gluck and Jean Valentine. For a creative writing English major, I’ve so lost touch with who’s hot in poetry these days. 

The rain is reaching monsoon proportions. I’m wondering how Nate and his  friends are faring at the outdoor Governor’s Ball music festival on Randall’s Island. As if someone ordered a Woodstock reenactment. 

More people crossing themselves. Is it the storm? Sounds of Ethel upstairs. Cara and Stephen trying to express support in a trying moment. I can’t keep living on the edge.

Do more work getting ready for an important congregational meeting and the Session meeting to prepare for it tomorrow morning.

Take a break to watch the Penguins trying to keep alive in Boston. That was futile. You have to know how to finish.

When I get back, Marc drops in. He’s been checking the flooding. All things considered, not so bad. 

Walking home.Still raining. I see Sean’s wheelchair in front of the Baptist church. But no Sean.