BIG BALLS

 

BIG BALLS

As I waited for my car

To be inspected nearby

I found myself in the middle

Of a bocce court

From the Land of the Giants

Whoever designed the area in Briarwood

Between the eastbound  and westbound lanes

Of Queens Boulevard

Placed huge concrete balls

Along the sides

What a funny place 

So I sat on one of the few benches

As a man walking his dog passed by

I thought of reading my book 

When I spotted

Underneath the bench across from me

A dead rat 

And many hungry flies

While I appreciated the arrangement

Of the park

I decided it was time to get up and  see

If my car was ready

FENCE

 

FENCE

Somehow a fence got in the middle of a tree

Or a tree in the middle of a fence

Not sure who is in

Or who is out

The tree doesn't seem to be going anywhere

And neither does the fence

A lesson to be learned?

TELEPHONE BUILDING

 

TELEPHONE BUILDING

Driving a friend home in Ridgewood 

I passed by a telephone building

One wonders when the building first went up

Was it full of operators?

While I still have a landline phone

It is hardly ever used

And I can't remember the last time

I spoke with an operator

Is there one still working

In the telephone building in Ridgewood?

ORANGES

 

ORANGES

Cara Cara oranges

With their red flesh

Were once a specialty item

Low in acid

And packed with flavor

They can now be found in abundance

In a fruit stand on Metropolitan Avenue

4 for 5 dollars

WEEDS

 

WEEDS

We make chemicals just to kill them

Weeds somehow interfere with our aesthetics

Lawns should have blades of green grass

But no weeds

That's the prevailing wisdom

In a field  in Forest Park

Where weeds grow undisturbed

They look perfectly serene

Part of the natural landscape

No less or more than the grass

The trees or the yellow wildflowers 

 

GARBAGE

 

GARBAGE

When I saw this arrangement of plastic bags 

And some other assorted detritus 

What I noticed was how colorful it was

Was it just an accident that all these colors came together?

Or did some eccentric florist decide

To create an unusual bouquet?

If Renoir or some other Impressionist walked by

I wonder if they would think the scene worthy of a study

 And if they did would people now be paying millions

To hang garbage in their living rooms?

BUDDHA

 

BUDDHA

Passing by a street 

In Kew Gardens

A statue of a Buddha

On the sidewalk

Near an entrance

Caught my attention 

I asked my friend if

The place was a temple

He said it was not

Just an apartment building

He kept on walking ahead

I stopped to look at 

The sitting Buddha

Must be nice 

Before coming home

To be reminded to let the worries

Of the day slip away

And focus on Enlightenment

Smiling I tried to catch up with my friend