Steeple and Skyscraper

Driving into Detroit is redolent of my romantic youth when I was in love with cities and wanted to run away to New York or wherever. As you come down I-75 and get into the city for a few seconds in front of you there is a church steeple in front of the Renaissance Center -- the city's tallest building -- and they are perfectly aligned. The steeple is green as if it is copper and the skyscraper is a gleaming black cylinder. As a high school student on a night out, feeling gritty and a little bit on the edge, I had this sense as I saw them shadow each other that everything would work out swimmingly. I always had that feeling. It was a moment of --- what do you call it --- confluence? Synchronicity? Of course things always changed, the structures again fell dolefully out of sync. But for a minute there I was benevolent and brave.