A DOLL HOUSE

 

 

 A DOLL HOUSE

Years of imagination, creativity, dreaming, wondering

While playing with a doll house

Now being tossed out into the garbage 

Replaced by what?

 

FOR THE BIRDS

 

 FOR THE BIRDS

You could say

Those little houses 

Attached to the dead tree

On Kew Gardens Road

Are for the birds

So far 

No complaints

SEEKING TIME TRAVELERS

 

 

SEEKING TIME TRAVELERS

The sign says they are seeking experienced time travelers

Obviously it has to be something else

Experienced time travelers must have better things to do

Than to respond to a help wanted sign 

Stuck on a lamppost on Queens Boulevard

You would hope so at least

But you never know

The Time Traveling racket

Might be a little slow

This time of the year

 

LAND OF THE GIANTS

 

 LAND OF THE GIANTS

I don’t know why exactly I thought of 

Land of The Giants

An old TV show

When I saw the huge leaves 

Of the Elephant Ear plant

Perhaps somewhere burrowed 

Deep inside our brains are 

All the hours of television 

We ever watched playing 

On an endless loop

RAIN GARDEN

 

 RAIN GARDEN

Sometimes a clever idea

Is to allow for a place

To grow into a green space

And give it a catchy name

REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST

 REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST

The storm came and went over a week ago

All traces have disappeared

Except for this small vestige of snow and ice

Which refuses to get the message

It now fancies itself a sculpture:

Remembrance of Things Past

EGGS

EGGS

Eggs lie shattered on a sidewalk

On 108th Street

Only an obstacle for pedestrians

To walk around

Seen on the floor of a gallery

An artistic statement?

 

BAMBOO IN QUEENS

 

BAMBOO IN QUEENS

Walking along the Long Island Railroad tracks

 I spotted bamboo

Not the rolling paper

The plant

I always associated bamboo with giant pandas

 But the only thing I saw moving

Was a train
 

BIRD

 

BIRD

We stare at each other 

 

Trying to figure out why

 

Here is this bird with a long tube neck

 

From where I'm sitting I can only see its one unblinking eye 

 

Which after awhile becomes hypnotic

 

Staring into that eye is

 

Staring into the unfathomable nature all around us

 

Or so I think at the moment

 

While I'm totally captivated  I'm also a bit wary

 

Both of us are alone

 

Strangers drawn to the little lake in Maple Grove Cemetery 

 

I drove from Forest Hills

 

This bird had come from where?

 

If only we could have a talk

 

I could ask a million questions 

 

What would the bird ask?

 

We keep looking at each other

 

The bird with one foot over the other slowly comes closer and closer then backs off 

 

And  then returns even closer 

 

What's going on? 

 

All I know is we can't keep our eyes off each other 

 

Five minutes

 

Ten minutes

 

Fifteen

 

We are one

 

 I've never experienced a moment like this

 

How lucky am I?

 

Seems we are connected

 

Do we recognize each other from a past life?

 

Soulmates finally reuniting?

 

As I 'm pondering these questions the bird suddenly pokes its head into the water 

 

And catches a small bright fish

 

Which it holds briefly in its beak

 

Before letting it slide down its neck

 

The spell is broken

 

No more eye contact

 

Sadly I realize all this time the bird wasn't thinking about me at all

 

Just lunch

 

What a beast!

 

As I was also getting hungry

 

I got  up from the bench

 

Soon after the bird flew away

MORNING MOON

 

MORNING MOON

During the day the sun 

Hogs all the attention

But the moon is there all the time

Not just at night

Perhaps some morning

When you are walking in the park

While it's breezy

Next to a lake

If you're lucky

You may just look up at the sky

And the moon will catch you by surprise

POLAR BEAR

POLAR BEAR

The cute polar bear

Standing on the lawn

With a scarf around its neck

Holding a present

Of course is not real

One day however

It might be a sad reminder

Of the great creature

Who once roamed the arctic

Before receiving

The cruel gift

Of extinction
 

THE SEAGULL

THE SEAGULL

Does the seagull on top

Of the lamppost

In Kissena Park

Look at the humans

Walking by

And wonder:

Why are they missing the great view?
 

MID-DECEMBER MORNING

MID-DECEMBER MORNING

On Meadow Lake

Mid-December morning

Almost sixty degrees

Seagulls and ducks lounge around

As cars pass by

Along the various highways

Where are they going?

The seagulls and ducks don't care

They are enjoying the sun and the water

Some just know how to live!

 

MANDARINS

 

MANDARINS

Astoria

In a fruit store

On 30th Street

The sign promises

Sweet California Mandarins

And as proof:

TRY IT BEFORE YOU BUY IT

How can one refuse?

So I tried a mandarin

Which was indeed sweet

Afterwards I bought a few pounds

That's what I would call 

Effective advertisement

 

NIGHT SKY IN FOREST HILLS

 

NIGHT SKY IN FOREST HILLS

I was looking to take a picture of the moon

But the moon was hiding or camera shy

So I had to settle for a picture of the 

Night sky with a distant star

Walking home after buying bananas 

Walnuts 

Blackberries 

Shaving cream and a charging cable

I had watched the sanitation man 

Throw a clear plastic bag 

Filled with cardboard

Into the street 

Which later he picked up

Chucking it inside the garbage truck

With cars honking 

And the massive apartment buildings

Looming over me 

I thought what a mess 

We've made of our world

But then suddenly I realized

Who cares?

The planet  certainly doesn't

Time just keeps moving forward

Six hundred and thirty million

Four hundred and fifty six thousand

And ninety three days from now

This same spot I am standing in

Will still be here

And there's nothing that can change that

Even with our bombs we can't really 

Blow everything up

We can only destroy ourselves

Earth in a way was 

Letting me know

Thank you for worrying

But I got this

A PURE AESTHETIC

 

A PURE AESTHETIC

82nd Avenue

In Kew Gardens

Passes over the Long Island Railroad tracks

It is not a particularly busy road

Either with cars or people

John Chadwell took his time

To create "EASTBOUND-WESTBOUND"

On the side walls of the pedestrian bridge

Not because he was trying to become famous

Or rich

Getting in your face 

With a big statement 

Or deep meaning

Simply a working artist

Contributing his palette of colors

For those who might enjoy it

And for those who walk by

Without bothering to look

No harm 

No foul

PFC LAURENCE STRACK MEMORIAL POND

PFC LAURENCE STRACK MEMORIAL POND

Walking along Woodhaven Boulevard

I saw a sign for Strack Pond

My first instinct was just to keep going

As I was getting hungry

But I decided to stop and see

Actually the trail was only a few steps away

And right as I entered into the woodlands

The world suddenly changed

The busy street disappeared

I was in another place

Tranquil

With a completely different rhythm

Strack pond is named after a young soldier

Laurence Strack  from Woodhaven 

Who was killed in Vietnam in 1967

To honor him they built two ballfields

Where the pond now stands

Later it was brought back to its natural state

So that today you can spend 

A few relaxing minutes

Away from the hustle and bustle nearby

Who knew?

 

 

TINY CHAIR

 

TINY CHAIR

Tiny Chair

No longer needed

Outgrown?

A good thing I suppose

But why does the little chair

Next to the large garbage bags

Make me feel so sad?

MONUMENT

 MONUMENT

Walking along 71st Avenue 

In Forest Hills Gardens

Looking down at the floor

I saw a strange metal plate

"MONUMENT

TOPOGL BUREAU

BOR. QUEENS"

What kind of bureau is the TOPOGL?

Something like the FBI or even more secret? 

Is the TOPOGL BUREAU watching

Over the Borough of Queens?

Who are these people who work for

The TOPOGL BUREAU?

Where is their headquarters?

Do the workers wear Topogl badges?

And why a monument?

Aren't they in Washington D.C.

Or in Cemeteries?

I pondered these questions for a while

And then decided to let my imagination fly

 Maybe there is no TOPOGL BUREAU

In Queens or anywhere else

The monument is where

The little green men 

From the center of the Earth come out of

Each borough has one of these passageways

For the little green men 

From the center of the Earth to use 

Or maybe the little green men 

From the center of the Earth are already here

Have been here for a long time

Hiding away in some distant forest

Unfortunately as a result of global warming

And the vanishing habitats

Many of the original little green men 

Are dying off

The remaining ones

Desperate to survive 

Now wish to return home

But the hole they 

Once used to come out of ground

Has faded from their memory

Occasionally some of the little green men

Go on expeditions searching to find 

Their long lost portal 

With no luck so far

If however for some inexplicable

Reason the remaining little green men

Are reading this blog entry

Now at least they know where 

Their ticket home is located

 Finally I Googled: TOPOGL BUREAU

Which indicated the marker has to do

With maps made by the 

Bureau of Topographical Engineers

Used as benchmarks for the size of streets

And property lines

How dull

LIKE TWO EAGLES

LIKE TWO EAGLES

Two bald eagles

Now reside at the Queens Zoo

Neither can fly

One was hit by a plane

The other was shot by a hunter 

 It' ain't easy being

A national symbol