Old Time Neighborhood

OLD TIME NEIGHBORHOOD (1934) Reborn a wrinkled old child Inhaling the smell of budget Walking those cracked skated-on sidewalks Old trees with grainy knothole eyes standing arm-wrapping round thick so strong Noisy kids uncaring – knee-patched barefoot Noisy kids carried on a listened-for breeze A scrawny let-out-of-doors cat darts dares to cross the one-way street Lower middle class? Yes But respectfully litter-clean! No liquor bottles in the gutter - no wretched used dried-putrid condoms A Victrola whales from an apartment house window “I’m confessin’” (that I love you) And a drunk stumbles home at 8:00 in the morning Houses with large long porches meant to be sat upon at sundown on hot days And Oh, yes! There are tears “Road of life” She identifies