Some semblance of poetry--quality not guaranteed

"Beauty and the Beast"

I ride the beast over the Manhattan bridge
My gaze goes south
to the beauty of the Brooklyn Bridge
and the waters of the East River flowing 'neath it
and the barge in the water
and the skyscrapers of downtown Manhattan
(Sadly, the Towers are long gone
and all the people in them
destroyed on a day as lovely as today)

There’s the playground on the Brooklyn bank
its equipment embellished with fake sails
What a delight to the eyes of the children!
The sun shines
Baruch yotzer or

The train descends from the bridge
The last thing I see before re-entering the tunnel
before leaving the light and re-entering the darkness
are the trees
I'll see many more, when we re-emerge into the light
Of the open-air sections of this subway line
When I first moved to New York, I was surprised
"What do you mean, 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'?"
Lots of trees grow in Brooklyn!
I just didn't get it
It wasn't until many years later
that I finally read the book by that name

Hurry, hurry, hurry!
I'm late, and my boss of the day
The "black-hat" one
Anxiously awaits my arrival

Hey, hey, hey
Another glorious Friday
with the Brooklyn crew
And, at 2
Shabbat shalom to all of you

And here's wishing you
an easy fast, too


“A Tree Grows in” . . . the Midwest

The workday is done
I’m across the street, half a block from my office
Wandering around the kosher candy store
Breathing chocolate
Chocolate!!!!!!
I can’t buy any chocolate today
The fast day of Tisha B’Av is only two days away
Gotta get off the caffeine
Still, I can’t get that silly grin off my face
Standing in a candy store
I can’t help thinking of the name of a certain “tree” from the Midwest
about to be transplanted
Looking, looking, looking
I don’t see any
Finally, I head for the cashier
Bags of peanut brittle and unsulphured dried pineapple in hand
And ask the question
That’s been on my mind since I walked in the door
“Do you sell fudge, by any chance?”
“No.”
Why am I not surprised?
Fudge is a rare commodity.


Welcome to New York!

http://crimeandtreasononthehighseas.blogspot.com/


“Will you still need me, will you still feed me . . .”

There they were
Splashed all over the pages of the
latest TV guide
The Beatles
Young and cute
Just as I remember them from my teenage years
All four of them
All four

“Will you still need me, will you still feed me
when I’m sixty-four?”
How sad
that two of them didn’t even make it that far

“Will you still need me, will you still feed me
when I’m sixty-four?”
Well, I guess so
Since you’re almost there already
Baruch haShem

In fact, I hope I’ll still be feeding you
When you’re ninety-four