23 years ago

23 years ago this month I moved into the 6th floor (the first two windows from the far right) of this building facing 1st Avenue near the corner of 9th Street in Manhattan. I used to listen to Steve Reich's "Violin Phase" out on the fire escape while I watched traffic roar by. Sometimes I would see Allen Ginsberg, Alice Notley or Eileen Myles walking by. I felt like I was in scary poetry city heaven. Most of the time I walked around feeling self-consciously erudite, anxious and dorky. I wouldn't want to live there or in that state of mind again--though I do like remembering those first few months in the city when it felt like there was so much to learn about and embrace.