by Tina Barry
Gansevoort Street
The 13-year-old model with soba noodle legs and palm-sized shorts turns her face to the makeup artist who dips a brush into shimmery powder and swipes it across the girl's cheeks. The girl feels the transformation, skinny Russian kid to a woman, a beautiful woman brought to life, eyes closed, head tilted back, sucking in the sun. She doesn't notice the small group of women in saris, emerald and garnet, sapphire and citrine, the cloth covered with mirrors glinting in the light. Or how they link plump brown arms, frightened or delighted by the attention, huddled close, bird-like chatter halted. A man on a bench holds his hands up, thumb to thumb, index finger to index finger to make a frame. Whoever spots him can picture what he sees: An Indian miniature, the clouds white anvils against blue, a static of brilliant tones in its center.
10th Avenue
A woman in a black T-shirt sequined with a giant gold cross and gold hot pants struts the stone path from 20th to 21st Streets as if it's her runway, while a D.J. plays a mixed tape of cricket chirps and car alarms.
Washington Street
The Standard Hotel opens over the High Line, a thousand panes of glass and little else. In one window a man pauses, then unwinds his towel and stands nude, celebrating his own beauty and that of a city where a young Orthodox couple sit close yet not touching and chat awkwardly, “Um, what's your favorite movie?” ignoring a sound installation that plays behind them: Good animals: penguin, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, domestic house cat, dog, turtle. Bad animals: spider, bat, tapeworm, head lice, rats, cockroaches, shark.
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Check out Issue 8 at StepAway Magazine, a "repository of walking narratives." Thanks editor Darren Carlaw for putting together such a great publication!
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"soba noodle legs" - fantastic. Love that I can picture the city reading this.
Good set, Tina. Agree with Frankie about the city view here. Nice. *
Great details from the great City. A pleasure to see and hear this.
Feels right to this bumpkin. Vivid, tone-true writing. *
fine work!***
Thanks Frankie, Sam, Gary, Mathew and James! Appreciate the kind words and the stars!
Hi, Tina,
I'm in that issue too!
Also, that's my wife's art work (Sherry Karver) on the cover.
And the high line passes right by her NYC Gallery, Kim Foster, on West 20th St.
Great to see you here as well!
Jerry
fave!
Thanks, Jerry. Glad we can share the issue! Thanks for star!
This was a pleasure to read.
Thank you, Carol!
don't forget to stop at pastis for steak frites
*
Will do, Gary. Thanks for the star!
vivid. *
Thank you, Beate!
Lovely, spunky collage.
Thank you. Gloria!
A visual treat with a twist, Wordsmith-Lady. *
Thanks Barry. Love "Wordsmith-Lady!"
Very enjoyable reading, great writing *
Thanks for reading and commenting on "The High Line, NYC," Foster, and thanks for the star!
I was just on The High Line myself a weekend or two ago. So this feels very relatable indeed. I always enjoy your writing, and felt sad when you were not able to join us at KGB. I hope our paths cross soon, perhaps in Boston in March at AWP?
Thanks Robert. I'm sorry to have missed the reading at KGB too.
Just back from New York... just read this piece. Can't wait to get back, but I'll just re read.
So many great lines of observation here. I tend to be drawn to any string of words that taste good when read out loud in my head...if that makes any sense.
with a giant gold cross and gold hot pants struts the stone path
Thanks so much, Steven and Michael, and happy holidays!
Lovely images...*
Thanks for reading The HIgh Line, NYC, Gary, and thanks for the star!
Fave, Ms. Barry. I'm taken with the imagery. I sense it is the same NYC that people look at, but that you see. Like this a lot: " ...the clouds white anvils against blue,.."
Thank you, Mr. James. You've made my day.
I like how each of these is framed and is also a kind of frame (if that makes any sense)*
Thanks for the comments about "The High Line, NYC," Jane, and thanks for the star!
*
Great sketches. Lyrical, visual, sensual. LOVE the High Line, by the way. *
Thanks Michael. I'm a fan of The High Line too.