Beyond the revolving glass doors
Past the guard stapling his gum
And up the humming escalators
Is the bustling main visitors lobby
A bowl with four twirling seats
Greets me with three receptionists
That feed numbers into amber phones
The red snapper lady looks at me
“Tell Mr. Genao he has a visitor”
“Fifth floor”, “yeah fifth floor”
“What did you bring him this time?”
“The usual clothing, food & books”
They give me a laminated pink pass
I head to the hiccupping elevators
Upstairs they log my name in, feeling famous
I can see last night’s signature barely dried
Unlike my brother’s eyes, he clearly just woke up
Hopefully not from something too good
Didn’t want to be responsible for ruining
A kiss or more, his dreams were always consistent
“Hey what’s up’s” and hugs are exchanged
“Bro I’m staying strong for you, for us”
“How are you sleeping, eating”?
“Ok but I keep hearing people crying”
The white bags hit the laminated table
Clothing now smelling like Chinese food
He doesn’t mind, almost eats a shirt eggroll
“Hungry, they don’t feed me enough here”
A small bag gummy bears makes it across
“Some light snacks for later or now”
“You know I love you?”, “I love you too”
“It will be over soon, just stay tough”
Tears clean his cheeks but shaken off
As alarming keys poke into the door
“It’s 3:00pm, all guests must go”
“We know, see you again tonight”
NYC Eclogues 