memento

Shortly after I left New York, a friend gave me a cartoonish NYC snow globe, the kind with glitter instead of snow. The buildings are all bent funny, and there's a subway car that reflects the harshness of the New York streets: spraypainted on it, the words PHAT, FRESH.

I referred to the thing recently as a crystal ball, but one that always shows the same thing. Meaning, New York is in my future (it's not really a stretch to think that I'll see New York again, probably sooner than later). But I noticed a couple of days ago that the water in my crystal ball has turned to a cloudy, dingy yellow. And it seems appropriate these days, and I am wondering what it portends.