I remember trolley cars
sweet powdered sugar cookies
"kourambiedes" Thea called them
Papoo's hot dog stand
and spinach pie, yum
I remember a green dodge with running boards
a pantry where my mom slammed my finger in the door
on accident
Monday night card games
pennies on the floor
Tuesday mornings
I remember staring into an airshaft
at fresh-killed deer
my dad hung it he said "to age"
I was late for First Holy Communion
had to walk down the aisle alone
I was in a wedding -
the flower girl in oxfords
with feet too wide for Mary Jane's
I remember a pull toilet on 32nd Street
in the common hallway
I ran screaming to my mother
I was afraid to go out there alone
there were huge family gatherings
with scraggly Christmas trees
that needed lots of tinsel
Daddy bought them for a buck
I never had a bike
but remember the day we got
our first television
Mom covered it with a sheet
Sundays were ,
jelly tarts, a dozen rolls,
and don't forget the "newspapers"
on the way home from Church
then Sunday matinees
popcorn was 10 cents a bag
Friday night movies were for big kids
I remember bus rides for seven cents
and block dances in the summertime
in Hoboken, grandpa bought
charlotte rouse
and I rode Papoo's shoulders
when they circle danced above the garage
singing "somyourtisa"
sometimesI can hear the voices
drifting up
memories so strong
I'm almost there
Copyright, Barbara Gari Serio 1999
