The rush of cars and their angry horns drowned out every other sound. It was early November, and the first snow had crept down softly over night, to now fill the streets with dirty slush that splattered anxious people waiting on the corner of the sidewalk for the light to change.
The crowd was a curious mix between smartly dressed businessmen with their polished black shoes and watches that seemed to need to be kept an eye on, and ragged homeless people wrapped in their dirty coats, frowning at the world. Mostly everyone looked directly ahead. Some, to the ground. But very few looked up.
Little trees were crammed in places between tall buildings, standing out a bit awkwardly. The wind whistled through the airways the buildings created, with a great angry noise like a stormy ocean. It blew the forlorn looking leaves in a disorganized way, so that they seemed to say "which way?". But their whisper was peaceful, even in indecision, somehow.
The sidewalk, dirty with all that's around it, runs off in all directions; worn and tread upon. Thousands of feet and thousands of ways; all with some direction...but never here for long. Passing, day after day, with no more than a glance or fleeting thought to which way.
Light colored pigeons, and a few doves, scattered playfully about. Their wings caught the sun, and shone with it as they dove through the sky. The sky...: somewhere way up high, beyond even, the tops of the state buildings that towered above everything as if to clear the clouds away.
It was noisy all around. But it could be quiet within. Even standing on 32nd street. Even with the cars rushing by in endless streams of furry. Even with the people, talking, running, walking, yelling, rushing back and forth. There could be quiet, if you stared up at the blowing leaves. You could watch the pigeons scatter, and wish you knew how to fly, with the wind through your hair. And if you raised your head, raised your eyes, beyond the buildings, beyond the noise, you could catch a glimpse of the sky. Somewhere beyond this. Where it was silent. And you could be still.