SPEAKER

SPEAKER

I was walking around Forest Hills High School

Talking to my friend about The Sound of Silence

The Simon and Garfunkel song

And its various meanings

When around the bend I saw an empty box

Of a huge speaker which is

Usually installed in cars

Silence is golden

Noise brings attention

Never mind that all that music blasting out

Of the vehicle will probably make you deaf one day

It's the moment

The thrill

All eyes are on you

Years ago The Sound of Silence

Lamented the inability to communicate

But the need to be heard is always with us

And for a few hundred dollars 

You can make sure everyone does

PAYPHONE

 

PAYPHONE

Sometimes you were lucky

By pushing in the small slot 

At the bottom of the payphone

Where the coin would drop

If the number wouldn't go through

You could find a quarter

But you'd settle for a nickel or a dime

The few payphones still around today

Are now relics of the pre-cellphone era

When we were truly wireless

A call meant something

It had to be important for you to spend

Money and if the call was 

Really important you had to keep

Looking desperately for more coins

To put in to keep the call going

The worse thing would be getting cut off

In the middle of a sentence

Most teenagers have never even used a payphone

They can't imagine that world

We also have a tough time imagining theirs

The funny thing is now that we all have

A phone we can use anytime anywhere

We mostly choose to forgo

The intimacy of the voice

And text instead

 LOL

RATS

 

RATS

Near where people eat outdoor 

On the path to the Forest Hills 

LIRR train station

Poison traps are set for rats

Although they are our ancient ancestors

In many ways related to us

They love to lie on their back

And have their stomachs petted

Causing them to emit 

A high-pitched giggling sound 

Which we can't hear  

Even if we did I'm not sure 

It would matter

The truth is when we're not using

Them for lab experiments

We see them as pests

An invasive species

Who carry disease and can bite us

It does strike me a bit ironic

That we spend billions searching for other life 

In this solar system and the universe

But our distant relatives however 

Have no place among us

Especially when we are spending a pleasant

Evening dining under the stars

BAT BOXES

 

BAT BOXES

We have a love-hate relationship with bats

We make Batman a hero and Dracula a monster

Some say the pandemic was started 

By people drinking bat soup

Many scientists now reject this rumor

What's certainly true is while we are busy

Destroying natural habitats we increase our chances of

Coming into contact with deadly viruses

The Jamaica Bay Wildlife refuge has 

Put up bat boxes where

Little browns bats and sometimes red bats

Can chill out during their migrations north and south

If you are in the mood

One spring or fall evening

You might get to watch the winged mammals  

Exit the bat boxes as they begin

Their hunt for insects

Bring a sandwich

WATER FOUNTAIN

 

WATER FOUNTAIN

Most parks

Have water fountains

Most are nothing special

Seeing how water is essential

To our survival

In many ways more valuable than gold

1 in 3 people around the world  

Don't have access to safe drinking water

That's billions of people

You would think our water fountains

Would stand out a bit

Reminding us how valuable a commodity

Water really is 

Not to be taken for granted

A blue water fountain

In Cunningham Park

Shows at least 

Someone took the time

To go beyond utilitarian 

Adding an interesting design

In shape and form

Perhaps even beauty?

One day

Water fountains might not just 

Look pretty

They may also come with a security guard

CONSTRUCTION

CONSTRUCTION

A peek into a construction site

Looks chaotic

Heavy machinery 

Earth moved

Materials piled everywhere

Who is orchestrating it all?

Never having worked in construction

Seems like a magic trick

When you pass by nothing major 

Is going on

A few scattered workers in a corner here and there

Eventually the pieces come together

And something appears

Isn't that the way we form our lives?

We have to step back

To see the big picture

 

PLANT

 

PLANT

Walking with my son in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

We noticed a beautiful plant and I took a picture

Actually my son asked me why was I taking a picture

It's just a plant

Unfortunately I couldn't tell him what kind of plant it was

Because I had no idea

I was never exposed to nature

Other than city parks 

Sure I've been upstate and hiked on some trails

But the appreciation of the natural world

Learning the names of plants and birds

Which surrounded us as we

Strolled on the West Pond Trail

Was something remote

Something I might take an interest in

While watching a nature program

On PBS

Other than pigeons and sparrows

Squirrels and rats

Wildlife remains like one of those long

Mathematical equations a physics professor

Might write on a blackboard

Fascinating but undecipherable

Too bad

BOOK

 

BOOK

For at least two days the thick novel

Has rested on a brick pedestal undisturbed

Passed by as if it was a piece of garbage

All those words left to the elements

Nobody has the  time or inclination 

To rummage through them

As we're busy texting or watching TikToks

Anything other than reading literature

But I'm actually surprised 

No one has taken the book

Looks like it makes a good doorstop

ROCKET THROWER

ROCKET THROWER

The 1964 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park 

Was a celebration of the Space Age 

As illustrated by the sculpture 

Rocket Thrower by Donald De Lue

The hope was humanity would soon

Be reaching for the stars

But after landing on the moon in 1969

We didn't double down and head to Mars

And although this year the Webb telescope will be launched

To peer into the vast distances of the universe

I am still left feeling that the hope 

For traveling to brave new worlds

Of the 1960's has somehow diminished .

While sitting by the massive bronze statue

My friend and I

Began discussing the potential for life 

Within our solar system

Specifically eyeless creatures 

Residing in  the  deep oceans 

Of Saturn's moon Enceladus 

We may find out in the 2030's when probes

Will be sent to investigate

Whether they exist or not

In the meantime we are left wondering

Along with the 43-foot giant 

Looking up at the sky

Is there anyone out there?

PUNK

PUNK

A couple of days ago

 In the birthplace of Punk

"The Ramp"

Somewhere in Forest Hills

Although my iPhone says Rego Park

 Where the Ramones got together

Launching a new style of rock

I saw two girls practicing

A dance routine

For a TikTok video I suppose

Music tastes come and go

But the drive to leave your mark

Always remains steady