1955 - 1963 My Manhattan

As a child in Manhattan
From Sherman Avenue
In a neighborhood of cultures
Were voices old and new

In my apartment building
With it's courtyard and six floors
Spanned the length of one block
Built above a group of stores

Inside each apartment
Came a bit of everywhere
Dinner smells strolled down the hallways
Cooked with a worldly flare

There were Greeks, German and English
Jews, Irish, Scots and Dutch
Hispanics on the first floor
That one family.....was us!

Across the way and down the street
Were tenements by the dozens
Filled with freckled Irish kids
Brothers, sisters, cousins

On the corner was a Cuban grocer
Next to Moe's candy store
On the other was, another
Selling, sodas, toys and more

There was Mr King the dry cleaner
And a store selling mirrors and glass
Mr Swan sold cold cuts
And a bookie joint we'd pass

At night the neighbors gathered
On the steps to have a chat
With a snack and gossip catch up
Of nothing, this and that

My school was katty cornered
A few steps from my door
My church stood right besides it
I was there five days or more!
(Lutheran church, historically Dutch neighborhood)

A cop with a night stick, walked the street
Had a word with every kid
When he asked if I was being good
Behind my Mom, I hid

Up the road was Dykeman House
A spot where George Washington slept
Preserved between brick buildings
Historically neat and kept

We'd play kickball and ride scooters
Made of wooden crates we found
With wheels from broken roller skates
Down alleys rolling down

Dancing hulas in the lobby
Shows my Mom would organize
Plastic leis, and green crape grass skirts
Couldn't dance but we sure tried
(I'm the little one in front)

When the ice cream truck came calling
Before dinner with his chimes
My mother told the driver
Come back another time


Red light, green light, one, two three
Red rover, kick ball ,and tag
Running up and down the street
Played war with battle flags

We were near the Hudson River
Seeing rainbows when it rained
Sigh
Time goes on and changes life
But the rainbows stay the same

Pax
A
3/07