The Lawn

The lush green lawn gives life to the metropolis. The towering façades of the surrounding buildings mask the nails on chalkboard stress of those working doggedly inside them like stomach acid. Similar to the roots of a tree, they looked to the lawn for nutrients to feed their soul. It’s those nutrients that keep them going in not only their work life but there full life. You see, work isn’t all that they do. However, it’s what they’re doing now and they have no choice. Duty and responsibility call.



American Express, Con Edison, Sallie Mae and their collective landlords need their offering by the end of the month and their work as stomach acid gives them that. So as they toil in the beast, they look to the lawn to help them remember that part of them that is human and completing.



To entice them even further rambunctious children play on the lawn like they were back in their respective wombs on month seven. Floatingly, carefree but still tethered to the watchful eye of family. They tumble, sprint, race, practice hand stands and always a smile. The cheery innocence they display is an innocence that is understood in Mumbai, Cape Town, Prague and Mexico City. Good childhood memories cooking in the steel pot.



Even though the chemical compounds can only imagine it, the echoing beehive noise of the adjacent restaurants provides a musical backdrop to the lush incubator of life. The screaming of sirens, the honking of horns, the screeching of cars and the stampeding of trucks give it a mechanically yet orchestral sound. The silence of the grass sets the tone.



So how do they get to this nest of humanity? The water. Its welcoming embrace is like a waiting lover. Its warmth and soft touch make them want it even more. The moon’s presence adds a feeling of inner peace and joy. Again, all a great contrast to the work day they’re experiencing. How? Today is the end of the month and reports were due. Reports that are due every month but are dreaded none the less.



The water today though gives long lasting comfort. You see today for some, this is the beginning of a new secret in some minds. They’re quitting.



It’s the womb of summer in New York and its Thursday night in Bryant Park.