Not that anyone is counting
But there are over 120 cherry blossom trees
In Flushing Meadows-Corona Park
Every year the Japanese American Association of New York
Plants a new tree with seeds originating in Japan
With the blooming of the cherry trees
The world becomes more colorful
And we can say officially
We are in spring
A funny thing happened to me
In Flushing Meadows-Corona Park
I ran into a thirty foot column
From the Greco-Roman city of Gerasa
Now the Jordanian city of Jerash
Which is over 5700 miles away
The column was a gift presented by the King of Jordan
For the 1964/65 World's Fair
The marble column with a Corinthian capital on top
Dates from 120 C.E.
Once thought to be one of the so-called
Whispering Columns of the Temple of Artemis
In 2015 further archaeological research concluded it was not
Nevertheless it spoke loud and clear
But apparently only to me
As the center of the attention was on the nearby soccer game
So I had this ancient wonder all to myself
Who built it?
How long did it take?
We'll probably never know those secrets
What's telling though is after
Almost two thousand years
The Column of Jerash
Still maintains a majestic quality
Some age better than others
Size matters
At least for some
When it comes to their TV
They want it to dominate
Whatever room they place it in
A center of attention
Reflecting
All 77 inches
In OLED(whatever that means)
Creating a"True Cinematic Experience"
(Possibly for those who have never
been to an actual movie theater)
As the Neanderthals who had
Bigger brains than humans
Can attest
Bigger is not necessarily better
In the 1930's when the Great Depression hit
FDR's New Deal programs took effect
The Works Progress Administration
Under the supervision of Robert Moses built
Astoria pool and the 32-Foot High Dive
Where the US Olympic trials were held
In 1936 1952 and 1964
After years of disrepair the diving pool
Has been turned into an amphitheater
While that's better than leaving the place neglected
I am left wondering why we ever
Abandoned the high dive
Too risky
Too dangerous
Seems to me the training and discipline
Involved in taking the plunge from such
Heights is something we should be aspiring to
Not shying away from
But then again I'm a lousy swimmer
TIME CAPSULES
On the first day of spring in 2021
I went to Flushing Meadows Park
To look for the Westinghouse time capsules
Actually the time capsules are fifty feet underground
In 1965 when the World's Fair ended
They placed a seven thousand pound
Granite monument to show where
The time capsules are buried
And that's what I was searching for
I had a picture of a map telling me
Approximately where the monument was located
In a part of the park I don't normally walk through
Which is why I had never noticed it before
When I reached the destination
I saw two teenagers sitting on one of the benches
Surrounding the monument talking and laughing
The girl was stroking the boy's hair
Quietly I took my pictures of the round structure
With engravings outlining the history of the time capsules
As a testament to the accomplishments of the twentieth century
In 1938 and 1965
Materials were deposited into time capsules
Including:
Seventy-five different types of fabrics
A pack of unfiltered Camel cigarettes
A Sears Roebuck catalog
A Harper's magazine
A quote handwritten by Albert Einstein
A Beatles record
Also a microfilm with over
Seven hundred and fifty thousand signatures
(Originally a book which if you attended the World's Fair in 1964 or 65 you could've signed and gotten a pin stating your name was entering the time capsule)
After taking my pictures I left the young couple to themselves
I sat on a rock a short distance away
Facing the Grand Central Parkway
As the cars traveling East and West passed me by
I couldn't help but make the connection between
The time capsules (which will be dug up
In the year 6939 and the contents
Shared with the people of the seventh millennium)
And the puppy love of the boy and girl
Who will more than likely forget their
Carefree day spent
Next to the granite monument intended to last
For thousands of years
DREAM OF VENUS
A mosaic needing restoration
By SalvadorDali
Can be seen and stepped on
Next to the massive and secure
US Open tennis complex
In Flushing Meadows-Corona Park
Salvador Dali designed a pavilion
For the 1939 World's Fair
Which he titled: "Dream of Venus"
He went all-out creating
A surrealist wonder of erotic images
His intention was to display a replica of Botticelli's Venus
With a head of a fish at the entrance to the pavilion
Except the organizers of the fair said no fish head for you
Dali protested by writing a pamphlet :
"Declaration of the Independence of the Imagination and the Rights of Man to His Own Madness"
Several months later the world was at war
A much too real nightmare
Even Dali couldn't imagine
OUTDOORS
Took a pandemic for us
To begin reimagining our city streets
Instead of primarily catering to cars
We reclaimed spaces for outdoor dining
(Would be nice if more of the places constructed allowed for fresh air)
What's the saying?
"Necessity is the mother of invention."
GARDEN
Behind the athletic field of Forest Hills High School
And next to a truck stop
A patch of grass has been turned into a garden
Where different types of crops are grown
I am curious who came up
With this great idea
Many times when I pass by
I see people tending the garden
Sometimes an entire family
In the summer some Sundays
The volunteer gardeners or farmers
Get together and share stories and food
You may think the creation of this garden
Is a small thing
But it goes a long way to making
A neighborhood feel like a home
LEAVES
I passed by a truck filled with fallen leaves
The last collection before spring arrives
The great cycle of life
In with the new
Out with the old
LUMBER
I usually walk with my friend John
Around Forest Hills High School
Each lap is something like a half a mile
We usually do two laps
Sometimes four
As I was waiting for him to meet me in the little sitting area
Belonging to the apartment building where I live
I began observing a nearby tree which looked bare
Except for a few budding leaves at the end of its branches
A welcomed sign on a blustery cold day in early March
That spring was preparing to appear
We walked together to the high school
Did our usual stretching exercises
In the middle of the fourth lap
I noticed a truck parked by the side of the road
Loaded with containers of lumber displaying
Made in the USA
And an idyllic name
Pleasant River
Like the cans of Campbell soup
Made famous by Andy Warhol
The identical boxes of Pleasant River lumber
Seemed to me an interesting Pop Art design
So I took out my iPhone 6 and snapped a photo
When I got home and saw the picture
I wondered if the Pleasant River lumber comes
From trees specifically grown
For commercial purposes
Which made me question why some trees
Get to live out their natural life
In grassy areas kept neat for apartment dwellers
While the fate of other trees are sealed from birth
In Kissena Park there is a memorial
For those of Queens
Who died in the Korean War
The history books tell us
The Korean War lasted from 1950 to 1953
Over one million and a half American males
From the ages of 21 to 29
Were drafted into the military
In the front of the memorial
There is a soldier in full battle gear
Holding a rifle marching on
In the back
A plaque with four columns of names
Names of young men who did not return home alive
How strange it must have been for them
Leaving the neighborhoods they grew up in
Transported to a distant place
Caught up in a dispute many of them knew nothing about
They sometimes refer to the Korean War
As the "Forgotten War"
Certainly the families
Of the 172 young men from Queens listed on the plaque
Would not agree
LAMP POSTS
In the private streets of Forest Hills Gardens
Where you need special stickers
To park your car or you get booted
Which will cost you a $180.00 fee
For the pleasure of getting un-booted
They have their own “Harwich Port blue” lamp posts
With wrought iron streetlights attached on top
One may consider this elitist
Although I must say the effect is quite charming
Especially the design of a sundial on a pedestal
Kept company by trees on either side
Most importantly when it starts to get dark
The light that emits from these unique street lamps
Can be enjoyed by all who pass by
Free of charge
My brother-in-law the other day
Was telling me how he moved
From Manhattan fifty years ago
Into a house next to a small church
One block off Corona Avenue
So much has changed in the neighborhood since then
Charming old dwellings are turned into concrete monstrosities
Of four or five floors
Some may call this progress
And while the church through the years
May have different names and denominations
The building remains intact
Although I am not religious
There is something comforting in knowing that
Most likely in another fifty years or so
When someone visits the area my brother-in-law lived in
They'll find many more changes and in the midst
Will still be the same small church
One block off Corona Avenue
TOWN HALL
Passing by this building on Northern Boulevard
You might be wowed by the architecture
Flushing Town Hall was constructed
In 1862 in a Romanesque Revival style
Which was popular during the Civil War
With arched windows and spires
It is a work of art
The history of the building is also impressive
Recruits for the Civil War signed up here
The Great Emancipator Frederick Douglass
Presented a speech in 1865
The showman P.T. Barnum along with
General Tom Thumb displayed
Their theatrical wonder in the auditorium
This was a place designed for the community
To have fun
To learn
To engage in civic duty
One Hundred Fifty Nine years later
Flushing Town Hall still stands
Still playing an important
Part in the cultural life of the community
Very few building(if any) are built in such a way today
Built to last
Built to serve the interests of the people
Why aren't there Town Halls
Like this in every neighborhood?
Imagine the impact such a place would have?
Instead we shoddily put up more stores
More office buildings
More places for people to sleep and eat
And almost no enduring places
For us to think
