St. Marks encounter

I exit the gate, I come across three young people at St. Marks Place. Two boys and one girl. I think they are around the same age as I am until I hear one of the boys say.
​
“ I can’t wait to turn 21, yo.”
21, he says. ​

I sense a shared insecurity among this group. It is so undetectable that you can hardly notice it. The insecurity hovers beneath their careless strut….. that particular way that teens walk. 
It’s romance to mock this beliefless modern time.
​

I wonder what they think of the logo on my yoga bag: “ transform your body, transform your life.” or rather if they even notice it.
Then, I wonder if anyone will notice it.
If there’s a person who sees my tote bag, what will they think of yoga? A sort of spiritual practice or simply a way of working out? 
What is yoga to me? I ask myself. I have no answer. I experience its power and have yet to articulate an answer that I like.

I think to myself, “ Do people still believe in our time?” Why does anything that sounds spiritual despise people? I sigh loudly. But the prosperity of St.Mark St will not hear my wonder. I hear people laughing and crying. I have a desire to know everyone’s sufferings.

“Yo, this is what I need.” the same voice I heard earlier says. I turn my head to the left side where I think his voice points at. It is a game store packed with New York’s lost angels. I hear people yelling inside of the game store. The light from the screens lighten the whole room. People’s faces look strange to me.

“Same here, man. Also, I can’t wait either. 21 sounds so fun!” Another voice rich with excitement.
I turn on my phone to open the calculation app, and wonder what year they were born if they were 19 years old now.
“2019-19=2000” .
​
2000, what was I doing that year? Oh, I was 6 years old.

What was the world doing that year?

​