世贸遗址

 

少了世贸双子楼的曼哈顿
就像长了疤痕的脸
纵然想尽一切办法
也无法弥补这道缺憾
那场灾难
对于我，一直只是一段影像
直到我走近了真实的它
高楼环抱住的残破的废墟
失去了父亲的孩子的画作
我的心深深地触动了
就在那一天
两千多颗追逐梦想的自豪的心
两千多双辛勤打拼托着家庭重担的手
两千多双憧憬着美好生活的眼
随着国家民族仇恨集团利益冲突
就这样无辜地毫无准备地逝去在灰飞烟灭中
是非功过我无法评说
但恐怖分子的炮弹是摧毁不了曼哈顿岛的气势的
它仍然在迎接着挑战创造着奇迹续写着辉煌
当听到华尔街的钟声
当看到时代广场的霓虹
当一栋栋新的摩天大厦拔地而起
我想，那些悬浮在上空的英灵
一定会心地笑了
我也为这些曼哈顿岛的英雄祈祷

今天是纽约一年一度的Mermaid Parade
坐了两个多小时地铁终于到了Coney Island
将近两百个团队参加了游行
自由奔放热情火辣无拘无束的男女老少
看得我眼花缭乱目不暇接
桑巴恰恰摇滚踢踏样样都有
versatile的纽约
我开始有点喜欢了

拍摄的美国三大有线电视新闻网在time square的展示，以及工业指数，街头电视制作等。

右手边，两个湖南女孩操练着蹩脚的普通话在聊天说地；左手边，一个中年妇女在讲电话，估计是粤语，听的不是太懂，只知道每句话后带个“啦”；对面是一个读着报纸的老头，正在猜测是不是韩国人，突见报头赫然几个汉字-“中国新闻”。坐在从法拉盛开往时代广场的7号线上，真的感觉到，纽约仿佛就是华人的第二故乡。

 

爬上地面，顿时晕了菜，人群熙熙，车辆攘攘，四处高楼层叠，也分不清东西南北，跟着人流就走。正午太阳当头照，照得每个人原形毕露，白人身上斑纹点点（谁叫她们底色这么白），黑人则黑的油光泛亮，黄种人还是那么黄，只不过被晒得像嫣了的黄花菜。真他妈的人间地狱！不过人山人海使我找到了一点中国的感觉，聊添几分思乡的情绪。

 

竖着的7Av，横着的42st和斜着的Broadway交汇在群楼之中，地图告诉我，这里应该就是时代广场，但极目四周，连巴掌大的空地都没有，怎么符广场的名称？每年元旦，时代广场都要承载几万来看大苹果的市民和游客，但现在我走看到的只有行色匆匆的人和穿流不息的车。站在这个著名的交叉路口，我彻底地迷糊了。

 

跟着感觉走，反正曼哈顿处处是精彩，逛到哪算哪。穿过了一个block，到了6Av，和7Av一样，还是铺天盖地的高房，再往前走，就是女人魂牵梦绕的5Av。路边的橱窗里展示着花哨的服装和绚丽的珠宝，三三两两的window-shoppers贴着玻璃仔细端摹者这些据说出自世界顶级大师的珍品或独品。我对这些东西不太感兴趣，也无福消受，加上嘈杂的车声，拥挤的人群和炙热的太阳，我心中只有一个想法，沿着第五大道向北走，去中央公园清静一下。

 

向北的征程并不轻松，看来我低估了曼哈顿岛的面积，地图上把不起眼的街区全都省了，42st到59st只画了两个block。一路上狂拍乱照，除了房子就是车子，还有不绝于耳的“excuse me”。有人说都市里的高楼大厦是钢筋水泥混泥土的怪兽，我感受到了，它们还是龇牙咧嘴的呢。 smother,这种冷僻的单词居然都开始在我脑海中浮现了。于是，我躲进了一家麦当劳，就要了一杯香草冰咖啡，悠闲地享受着这人间的美味，凉彻心扉的香浓甜滑滋润着我每一颗细胞，冷嗖嗖的感觉真好。

 

时钟走了一小格，太阳偏离了15度，曼哈顿的景致全变了。高楼将阴影无私的奉献给了大地，高楼的上部西面泛着金黄的光，我仿佛看到一点曼哈顿的风情了。突然，绿色出现在了眼前，我兴奋的冲过了马路。公园边上停满了华丽的马车，带着牛仔帽的车夫吆喝着，好像是$34逛一圈。马儿时不时的喘着粗气，看来曼哈顿马都活得很艰辛。

 

走进了公园，是一个小湖，碧水上浮着一群鸭子，好像跟mississippi河里的长的有点不一样，拍了照片，留作研究。再往里走，是一大片草坪，人像蝗虫一样趴得到处都是。远处的高楼围着这片平地，让我想起了上海的人民广场。再往北走，人渐渐少起来了，找了个湖边坐下，鸟儿在身旁嬉戏，湖上美女们荡着小舟，心情终于舒畅些了。王玮打来电话建议晚上应该去下去看夜景，我觉得也是，美国的城市，总是懂得如何最大限度的消耗能源来彰显大气，晚上到处都亮堂堂，生怕黑暗增添了人们的恐惧心理很不安全因素。

 

晚上的霓虹闪烁就写不动了，来天再续。这几天都会在曼哈顿逛，有什么好建议吗？

最近几天猛看desperate housewife
才发现这部戏有上瘾和发笑的功能
各式主妇倾情登场
每个角色都让我联想到出现在我人生轨迹中的
或男人，或女人，或老人，或小人
不像sex and city
几个精力充沛的都市女郎发着骚斗着艳
性体验都可以拍出长篇大戏足见女性的心细
而绝望的主妇
吸引我的是variety of the every day life
even though somekind of exagerated or totally made up
anyway the real life should surpass any sitcoms
everyone has to manage his/her own life
sometimes life is black and white
just as in this lovely small town - St Cloud
sometimes life needs colorful stimulation
just as my coming destination - New York City

Today, I met two things which confused me a lot.

1.

This morning, my classmate told me that he would go to department at 12:00pm, I said” what? Are you crazy”(who would go there at midnight especially in the summer time). After the confusion, I got the answer from Wikipedia.com, and found that I had a wrong concept about 12am and 12pm.

“The 12-hour clock is a timekeeping convention in which the 24 hours of the day are divided into two periods called ante meridiem (a.m., Latin for "before midday") and post meridiem (p.m., Latin for "after midday"). Each period consists of 12 hours numbered 12 (acting as a zero), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. The a.m. period runs from midnight (inclusive) to just before noon (exclusive), while the p.m. period runs from noon (inclusive) to just before midnight.” So 12:** in the noon is pm.

There is another website http://longtailworld.blogspot.com/2006/04/japan1212am-is-noon-in-japan.html showing that 12am is noon in Japan, so it seems that the 12-hour clock has the different definition in Japan and maybe China.

 

2.

  This afternoon, I read a book in library and found that below a picture of “Mount Everest”, it shows “Kala Patthar, Nepal”. Then I asked my Indonesian, Malaysian and Korean friends, they all told me that it of course belong to Nepal，China is too ambitious. But later I asked the friends from China and Taiwan, their answer is “definitely, absolutely and surely China”. Though I know that Nepal has the south slope and China owns the north part, every Chinese is educated that the highest point on earth lies in China (Tibet). That’s really interesting and I look up the Wikipedia, “Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth, measured by the height of its summit above sea level. Its summit ridge marks the border between Nepal and China.” So it belongs to the both countries, or China and Nepal shares it, it belongs to no country. BTW, in 2002, the Chinese People's Daily newspaper published an article attacking the continued use of the English name for the mountain in the Western world, insisting that it should be referred to by its Tibetan name “Chomolungma”.