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My “popcorn town”, Oak Bluffs
on Martha’s Vineyard,
always will be home to me
‘though I now live far away.
We were young when
we bought the old Victorian
with the wide wrap-around
porch. It needed a lot of work
but we fell in love with it.

Most neighbors were elderly
but very welcoming, though
our children were noisy
and we sat on our porch
and could be a little loud.
We made many friends.
Everyone got along and joined
any gathering taking place
on somebody’s porch.

Tom, in his eighties, lived next door,
He had been “second banana” to
Fanny Brice on Broadway,
He played an out-of-tune piano,
loved to entertain with stories
and songs from old shows.
Nearly blind and not too great
on the hygiene, he was still
our neighborhood treasure.

Next to Tom were Jim and Ann,
then Fran and Nelson.
These two couples became our
best friends over time.
I taught Fran to bake bread,
We made jam and played dominoes.
Their children and grandchildren
have still remained close to us.

So many good times with Jim and Ann.
Jim was an inventive cook,
and Ann and I shared a love
of books and poetry.
Jim and Ann had a home in Newton
and took in my daughter and me
for many weeks when my husband
Doug was in the hospital in Boston.

Across the little park that split
our street for a block, lived Lois and Ray.
Lois had very dark skin but loved
the beach and got blacker and blacker
all summer. She loved my baking
powder biscuits, and I baked
some for her every so often.

The opposite back corner of the side street
was occupied by Rhoda, also a senior.
She loved to go to Chappaquiddick
and fish off of the beach. She was good, too.
Her daughter Jessica wrote many
best-selling cookbooks, specializing
in African diaspora and Southern
foods and culture

Across the side street from us was Mabel.
Mabel was Irish and loved “Danny Boy”,
which we listened to most happy hours
on her porch with sons, daughters, cousins,
nieces, nephews and children, as well
as an assortment of passers-by.
We called her the Mayor of Pennacook Park.

On the other side of Mabel lived Claudia,
and her hobby was playing bridge.
Her daughter Darcie moved in with her later
and lives there now full time.
Darcie is a great friend. (Who else could
you call at 3 AM to help get your husband
off the floor and back into bed!)
Janet Holaday, the youngest, lived directly across
the park from us, a fabulous dancer
and creative book publisher.

Two families lived on the next
street over, Ann and John
and Pat and Wally. Not as old as
we were, they welcomed us.
When we had our knees replaced,
Ann and I roomed together
in the hospital and rehab.
Believe it or not, we did have fun.
Pat had parties with great food
that she and Wally mostly made,
although we all came with
some special dish to pass.
Frankie brought fabulous desserts.

Bud and Lenore lived down the street,
and, when we first moved there,
Frank and Alma lived next to them. Others
moved in later, Vivian bought the house
behind us, and was in her nineties.
She loved to sit on her porch and watch
the children on the playground.
Always perfectly dressed, she
was the picture of elegance.
Vivian had been a well-known singer
in her younger years.

There are Hans and Mimi up
the street the other way, and Jamie
and Ashley were on the next corner.
Jamie and Doug (my husband)
were great pals and spent much time
together when Doug would take a
walk on his walker or sit at
the end of Jamie’s driveway with
a bunch of other men laughing and joking.
New neighbors came, Steve and Lisa and Mike
and Marushka, who became great friends.

But, over the years, we grew older and
lost first one, then another, then another.
Tom, Lois, Rhoda, Bud, Lenore, Frank, Alma,
Vivian, and Jamie, who died too young,
Suddenly we were now the elders, and
everyone took care of us, made sure we were okay,
well-fed, and included in the good times.
Doug is gone now five years and I have
moved to be nearer to my daughter.
I am happy where I am, but my
old neighborhood is first in my heart.
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