( chap by Ed Galing, 86, the poet laureate of Hatboro, PA.)

Rooftops: A Poetry Collection  by Ed Galing  ( Peerless Press  3435 Mill Rd  Hatboro, PA 19040)  $5

 

At 86  Ed Galing still continues to be a prolific writer of poetry. His poetry still graces the pages of many a small press magazine. Galing is not a "difficult" poet. His poetry is accessible and invokes images of his boyhood on the Lower East Side of NYC, his stint in the army during WW2, the trials and tribulations of dealing with relatives, and what it is like to be a Jew in a Christian country.  In Growing Up Poor  Galing writes of a Lower East Side of 70 to 80 years ago: " Where I was born/ there were pushcarts/ in the streets/ and the babel of voices/ and hawkers/ and the sounds of many voices from many lands."  Ed tells me he likes to go to Jack's Deli in Phillie to play his harmonica and schmooze.  In Lunchtime at Jack's Deli, Galing focuses in on a group of elderly women who patronize the joint, producing a poem of

funny/sad qualities: " an in -between mouthfuls of/ the appetizers they eat/ dripping from the whitefish and creamed herring and stuff/ they never stop talking/ and they laugh a lot, and they/ look (really) so pathetic/ if that/ is the right word for/ it/ 'cause there is no way these/ old women, who have outlived their husbands/ can regain the/ youth and memories they once had/ but you gotta hand it to them/ and this is the only place they/ can be this way/ without anyone/ ever paying them another glance."  Well Ed, as Betty Davis said: " Old age is not for sissies."  You prove it with your poetry and zest for life!

 

Doug Holder/ Ibbetson Update