Long Boroughs Poems

While listening to Schumann’s “Arabesque” 
and “Fantasiestüche” for the Mozart B flat Sonata,
I feel the warmth and love that’s powerful within;
a moment of instrospection, a source of intervention.

I live in a wonderful country, beautiful and...

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I decided to drive through the city today 
Instead of the freeway.  And,

I still remember when we first met.  
It was like receiving my little red bike under the tree
so long ago. The...

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The Iceman the Bronx/Tony Adamo

I DIG THAT THE ICEMAN’S BACK, HITTING THE SPOKEN WORD STAGES IN THE BRONX AND THE OTHER BOROUGHS IN NEW YORK/AFTER ALL HE IS BORN AND BREAD IN DE BRONX/WORD SPITTER/...

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In the smiting chill of a dreadful wintry night
When through every fiber n’ nerve, was the cold bite,
I was sitting cocooned beside my hearth,
Sipping a cup of steaming tea of my choicest blend.
Suddenly my attention...

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While crossing Verrazano Narrows Bridge
recurring mem’ries of New York recapture 
history and civilization of the two boroughs
provide me with deep interest and emphasis.

Brooklyn in its old Dutch for “broken land,”
and Staten Island named “Staaten Eylandt”
named...

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He enters the neighborhood bitter 
from cold cases old grudges and gripes 
his musty breath is shallow stone cold 
coming from his angry nostrils transferred 
yet again for bad behavior after sucking
the life out of...

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I told you long ago that this land called "Romania" has exhausted its sources of blood and dreams.
For 35 years, we've been walking the thin line of memories, on the debts left by those shaped...

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I told you long ago that this land called "Romania" has exhausted its sources of blood and dreams.
For 35 years, we've been walking the thin line of memories, on the debts left by those shaped...

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I remember as a young child,
sitting on the stone steps
of my South Philadelphia
neighborhood,

Inquisitively witnessing
the massive amounts
of scattered debris,
sprinkled across
the concrete sidewalks
& black asphalt streets...

Like a nuclear waste site
of embittered souls in retreat,
from something I had...

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It’s late in the morning the squirrels have let me know
Its time for their breakfast, peanuts on the side porch
On the railings near where the old Olive tree grows
There they stand fussing and staring at...

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Raiding hoards assemble to make the attack;
Aerodromes on high alert, we’ll fight them back.

Brave souls scramble to cockpits everyone;
Awaiting the final vector to where the deed is done.

Away boys! Away! 
And off they take to...

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The surf, ferocious in the distance
white caps and roller coaster waves
nose-dives into the shore
sand rearranged; sea life takes cover-
the hermit crab –boroughs;
the gulls greedy, hungry - grab
remnants of human litter- their meal for the day-
and...

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WISDOM OF OZ/Words/

THEY CALLED HIM THE WISDOM OF OZ/A BALLER, BANGER/ WITH A WIDE RANGE OF KNOWLEDGE
INTO THE STREET LIFE OF PIMPIN’,LOAN SHARKING, SHAKE DOWN’S,GRAB –N-SNACH/ DON’T LEAVE YOUR DAUGHTER’S ON THE STUP MAN/ THE...

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They came running
Without pause
Without thought 
Without hesitation
Not away
But towards the dangers
That lay ahead

They came running
Not because 
It was their job
Not because 
They were brave
But because 
Their brothers
Their sisters
Their friends
And most of all
Those they never knew
Needed...

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If and when a boarding pass equals an educational equilibrium then equators could sing. But Tiburon turbulent tuning turrets can often be misplaced and therefore undetected by a radar which measures over the same distance...

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Family
I've been at the deepest boroughs with them
In deep having real conversations,
and for a moment I thought
That finally I'd gotten through them
Only to be disappointed all over 

It's like everytime I find something meaningful with...

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I come from a place where its all about your pace
Where hopes and dreams, Are written on your face
Sink or Swim, How?, If in a fire hydrant we played
Streams leading to sewage drains, Childhood dreams...

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From marble and granite to steel and glass,
we were discussing Rhina Espaillat’s On the Avenue in class,
was it 1950s or 1980s NYC and were the fifties
the city’s halcyon days or is it now, the 2020s,
the...

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Mom, I am stressed.
(On weekends I wake up at 12'o'clock)
Mom, I am stressed.
(Warm food is always awaiting)
Mom, I am stressed.
(You and dad haven't locked my phone)
Mom, I am stressed.
(The TV is always on)
Mom, I am...

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my anonymity is stalking the streets 
like a preoccupation. mornings, slowly I creep
into august daylight, filling beat boroughs.
passing the time: digging fake burrows: 
motel rabbitrooms don't come with sheets: 
boxes gloomy in the dinge; dead-end...

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I'm not quite sure when
they first arrived by boat
stepping onto Ellis Island
which is in New York,
alls I know is that my
ancestors came from
Germany, Wales and Ireland,
probably in the 1850s
or around that time,
when a lot of...

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From my penthouse here in Manhattan
I observe crowds of bodies all in fast forward mode
Through slightly dampened windows I watch fascinated
As locals and visitors cramp into one “Big Apple”
More people in Manhattan than my four...

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A city with the tallest skyscrapers,
many languages spoken by friendly faces,
bridges that are wonders connecting the five boroughs,
and amidst art and folklore, there's always a clown with hysterical laughs.


The mighty towers were suddenly brought down...

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Gathered dust of centuries old
adorns her great celestial robe
Glowing embers in eternal folds
threaded into gigantic orbs

Her face ravaged by endless vestige
of time, curled around her arm
a void pregnant with infinite age
etched on her heavenly palm

In...

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Oh no! Train again!

Perched upon parallels of steel,
You roll your way on heavy wheels.
Thundering through town
With a rhythmic rattle and clickity-clack.
Your deep throat rumbles diesel black.
Cars convey a cargo of corn syrup,
Commuters and coal.
You are...

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