Daydreams


Day dreaming in History
The dullest of classes,
I watch the little gargoyle
Who sits atop the window
Stare down at the avenue below.
It is twilight, five PM
The street is lighted
By store signs and street lamps.
And we are again in Paris,
The gargoyle and I.

                                                Fathers In Heaven

Sunbeams breaking through the clouds
Remind me that I have Fathers in heaven.
When I see that ray of light
I know they both gave me life.
My human father was taken from me
When I was a young child.
So I told my friends my father was in heaven
As theirs were on Earth.
I knew he wasn't underground
Although a plaque with his name
Marked his grave in that spot.
When the sun shines through the clouds
In that special way,
Or the light bounces off the snow
At night to make diamonds
I know their love.
Fathers in heaven.
Fathers of light.

                                                       The Accordion Folder


Daddy Played the accordion
He kept his lunch in an accordion folder.
When his heart got too weak to hold it up
He put the accordion down.
Each day he took the folder to work.
When it started to wear out
He reinforced it with tape
Until he had a tape folder.
In the wide part, he put his thermos
Filled with coffee for the day
Each morning he made the same sandwich
Cream cheese on rye.
When he came home from work
He placed the folder at one end of the couch
So I knew he was back.
The day he died was Labor Day
We came home without him
And put the folder away.

                                                    Let's Pretend

Let's play "Let's Pretend".
The fire escape is a balcony
And I am Juliet.
You are Romeo calling to me
Or, maybe you can sing to me like Tony
In West Side Story.
Poor Tony.
What ever happened to him?
Did he go to prison for murder?
What about Maria?
Did she find another Guy?
One of her own kind?
Where's Leonard Bernstein when you need him?
Did you say he died?
What happened to the years in between
When we grew up and lived our lives?
Is it time to play "Let's Pretend
We had it to do over again"?

For Alex

                                                       Facing Front

        A young man seated  at the piano
        You are looking out at me in a photograph
        It is me looking at me. We never really see
        Ourselves, except in photographs where the
        Mirror's reversal is absent.
        Then we see ourselves as others do.
        You were very young when the picture was taken
        So was the piano. You said you were old
        When you started lessone. Sixteen.
        You'd laugh if you knew I was still taking lessons.
        You do know. You're not laughing.

        I've been looking at this face in the mirror
        For a long time. I know all about it, though reversed.
        All the imperfections, assymetry and
        Funny little mounds and creases it has
        As part of its topography.
        Your older grandson missed a spot
        Shaving one day. He said he had this little
        Place under his lower lip
        The razor couldn't negotiate.
        I told him I, too shared that place
        Although I didn't shave my face.