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
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
Sometimes a clever idea
Is to allow for a place
To grow into a green space
And give it a catchy name
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 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
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
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
