I never, ever, ever write poetry -- but...

[HamdenRice]

I was talking to a somewhat loopy lawyer and was inspired to write this poem about the part of Queens, New York called "Far Rockwaway." First draft and I haven't even corrected the capitalization and punctuation.

Far Rockaway

When I was a kid
I thought it was called Far Rockaway
Because it was far
And because it was away
And you had to take
The rocking, swaying brown bombers
with their straw seats and ceiling fans
of the A line to get there
Across Jamaica Bay
On a trestle so low and narrow
Riding between the cars
You could almost touch the water

And then I forgot about it
I never went there

Later, I read about the drownings
The cruel undertow, only there
The worst in the city
Swallowing Russians, Chinese, Dominicans, Jews
Like Jonah’s whale
But vengeful, evil, spiteful
Not letting them live in the belly
Then spitting them out two weeks later
Far away
On Coney Island beach, maybe Sheepshead Bay
Rotted and eaten by the sea.

One day
When I went nearly crazy
A courtroom criminal lawyer
The designated ambulance chaser for the poor
I cut school, took the A to the last stop
I walked through the destroyed beach neighborhoods
Of Beach 40th, Beach 50th, 55th
Only the footprint foundations of houses
Where families had lived
To the boardwalk
I lay on a bench
In a suit and tie
I rubbed my throbbing mind
and stared at the blue sky
The yellow hot sun burned my eyes
Then I heard them
White in robes as ghosts
On the private desolate beach
Santeria,
Espiritismo,
Condomble,
The drums, barefoot, the head-dresses
They tossed papaya, mango, breadfruit,
They floated candles into the angry sea
To cure the sickness in their souls.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Not bad, not bad at all.

Keep on keeping on...

You could have posted this in the Lounge...

It would get more traffic there.

Hardly anyone posts here.

I only came over to check on a poem of mine. It's had lots of views...