Going down the stairs to enter the subway, I could hear him before I could see him….
With his booming voice he was trying to surpass the noise of passengers walking by. Soulful sentences were filing the station and people stood still, waiting for the train and listening to this man. He kept on singing, soothing sentences of lost hopes and dreams. Across from him a train just entered the station and his words were blown away through the tunnel...
"...I sing a song that got no hope or melody... spread your wings and let you spirit fly..."
I knew I liked his voice from the moment I heard it. I opened my wallet to give him some money, just as he started a new song. Acapella, calm and loud. He didn’t look up to face the morning commuters and they in return didn’t look at him. He simply kept singing his soulful songs.
I waited till his verse needed a pause, gave him the money and looked into his eyes. He smiled, collected the dollars and I touched his sleeve - telling him he had a beautiful voice, before I retreated to the corner of the platform.
My train entered with the usual loud metal to metal noise, but I kept listening and looking at this man. Here he was, in his own way, spreading some joy and happiness under the ground. He was there to earn some money but he did so much more, perhaps without even realizing it...
And then, just when the train doors were closing, he looked up and met my eyes. He gave me another smile and a little wave with his hand. I waved back with the same enthusiasm as greeting a friend. He made my day, this man - singing his soothing songs on a cold Brooklyn platform.
Yes, this day started pretty good, with a little bit of New York magic...
