In the beginning there was nothing…not a spark…nor a flame…nothing…not even a flicker of hope…she was to be looked at from afar…I didn’t dare get too close…maybe a few feet away from her on a subway train…a couple of tables across in a restaurant…watched as she walked up 8th Avenue past 24th Street each day…her chocolate skin glistening in sunlight…walking by vagabonds…beggars…business men…thieves of all kind…I was a peasant perched on a stoop looking-on…I’d never seen such beauty…

And one night it happened…she caught me staring at her around 42nd Street…in a crowd of people…she stood out…standing above others her green eyes met my brown eyes…she smiled…I took a drink of coffee and pretended not to notice…it was of no use…couldn’t stop watching her…she had this magic about her…to be trapped under her spell…a lifetime I would give…

We never said hello…no introductions made…I never saw her again after that…she must’ve changed routes…