Manhattan the cheerful

April 18, 1983

Great glorious cheerful chaotic city! Even the honking of your horns sounds cheerful. Your holiday spirit is everywhere gilding all drabness with a tinge of glory. You know nothing of the granite-grey day-to-day oppressiveness of other cities. The great are here; they make their presence felt. Your song is always humming under the surface of things and your ceaseless rhythm, never ominous, is the heartbeat of hope. Under your shifting chaos is the solid rock you are built on.