Prospect Hill (Somerville, Massachusetts) ((poem))

Behind my house there is a hill
with steep steps that lead up

to an actual castle. That is where I stand.
The sky is gray but the wind
is more forgiving than usual.
My name means "princess" so

the scene is fitting -- body leaned
against cement barriers, looking up
at the stones holding up the nation's
flag, looking down to drink in
the view spilling from Union Square
to Boston. There is downtown. Reach out.

This is my kingdom. This is my coronation day.

Friends stand near me and we all look
at the path that brought us here.
Ghosts of footprints won't leave
thermal images with these breezes
but we don't need that kind of proof

to believe in what brought us here today.
This is the castle behind my home.
This is the place I have come with friends
to make confetti of the past and throw it up

in the solid wind. Look as it falls down.

Notes from the Urban Cave Dweller, Part 5

Have you ever had someone tell you that your life is exactly like a movie? "Oh, you're just like those people from that rom-com, that one where the guy holds the boom box up over his head and you think he's a moron but then you find out he's the same mystery guy you've been talking to on eharmony for weeks and then all of your friends throw a costume party to get the big reveal to happen, you know, THAT movie." OK, maybe not that movie. But some movie. I've had people tell me my life is like a movie -- When Harry Met Sally. Because my best friend is a man. Or was. I mean, he's still a man, he's just not my best friend anymore. Does that mean the movie's not over? Maybe, but I kind of doubt it.

There's an age-old belief that men and women cannot be friends -- as Kissinger said, "too much fraternizing with the enemy." I never found this to be the case in my life. Most of my close friends over the years have been men. I'm comfortable with them, they're comfortable with me, and I have, on more than one occasion, become the extreme confidant of a guy in distress over a relationship or who just liked a chill drinking partner. It's not that unusual for me to be friends with the guy first and meet his girlfriend later -- the guy is almost always the primary friend in the equation.

This has always been the case for me. I have some phenomenal female friends, but there ain't nuthin' like my boys. Maybe this is the case because my closest friend over the last five-plus years was a guy -- my friends were his friends (and vice versa), so when that's the case, there's an extra dose of testosterone comin' atcha.