The day after it was over, a pale grey sky cast its pall
and dripped a slow & steady rain on Inwood & its one and all,
cooling, quieting a mind trying to embrace goodbye.

To Nereda the Elder Queen, her stoop on Seaman her throne
who told me, “Never, never force”. The sign on her front door says “Hope”.

To the Fine Fare late night saint. In his Red Sox cap, he double bags
most everything: “Bue-nah Noch-ay”, born with a smile nothing’s erased.

To the most dear Uncle Tom, true guardian angel walking tall.
That I may one day learn his songs and listen, like he, to the Call.

I’ve felt this place’s beating heart thump in my chest and rise & fall
with breath & footsteps as I’ve walked its streets & trails throughout the park.

Far beyond a second home, it was here I found my own
wayward way and second life. All pages will be told in time.

(8/7/2017 – Inwood, Manhattan, New York)

(See more Everlastin’ Spoof writings at http://www.everlastinspoof.com)