Now & Later, Now & Then

As a child I grew up in a neighborhood that for the most part was considered Industrial. Right out the front door was the highway; it was an elevated highway that hugged the coastline from the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel all the way into Bay Ridge. Across the street was a metal foundry where they molded metal into various objects for various uses. Then up the block were the offices for the factory that was a "junk mail" clearing house which was a few blocks away.

We had the business that made propellers, there were a lot of shipping companies, the factory that made all sorts of doll parts, and how could I forget the company just near the corner that used to make Christmas decorations. I can remember going there on Halloween and getting boxes of glass balls for the tree in lieu of candy. I didn't know too many kids who went home with Christmas ornaments that night...but when in Rome.

Every evening you could look out the back window and see the pink glow of the "Goya" sign atop the factory that produced Spanish condiments. I always looked forward to passing the Surplus Sales Warehouse because you never knew when they would be having a sale right out of their garage. Unlike the air in the country, it smelled different where I lived; it smelled sort of sooty and plastic, except....when the wind was just right you could smell the dyes from the towel factory.

The best smell that I remember however was from the candy factory. You didn't always smell it but there were times when there was nothing else you could possibly smell at all. I'm talking close to forty years ago and I've since moved away and the area is nothing like it used to be. Many of the factories have been converted into housing and a lot of the immigrants from lower Manhattan have moved into the area after 911. The funny part was that the candy factory I speak of made little chewy candies called "Now & Later", you may have eaten them; they were very popular in my neighborhood and I know they're still made somewhere but haven't had one in many years.

Life in those days was good, aside from being childishly carefree, those days left a lot of good memories which I still carry with me today. Thanks for helping me remember the memories I love to think of every "now and then."

the imposter

A penny a page
was all that was paid to
the scrivener of yore
who haughtily gave
the appearance of
a gilded gentleman
behind his parapet
of paper and ink.
He was so distal
to the wealthy that
he served
that nary a trace
of what he penned for them
could ever be
applied to him.

The Beatles - John Lennon - Imagine

I always liked this song and thought it would be right for the day...thank you YouTube and monnalisaare!

Death - No emoticon needed

Death is a villain

that we can not stave away

attempt as we will

and

Blood becomes viscous

when it's dead and motionless

til it's dried complete

but

Caskets were not meant

to become the new homes of

the lives we once knew

and

Flesh will most times rot

when the life has gone from it

if given the chance

but

Pain does not always

follow a death unless it

somehow affects you

and

Hoping for heaven

helps the unsure with relief

when nothing is left

but

Tree roots cut in half

are always the result of

a grave in the woods

and

The heart is a pump

whose job is done when it stops

working on its own

but

Petals on the floor

can't be prevented even

at the florists wake

Happy Holidays One and All!

The last Christmas Eve,

That eve she came, it was her last

still visible inside her shell

Disheveled, wrinkled, not the past

still loving and dear you could tell

.

Bearing the gifts she'd leave behind

wrapped in white tissue and ready

Her once taut skin was now all lined

her hands held out were unsteady

.

The gifts she gave, were once her cache

of glitter that she had been given

Back to us came, her treasured stash

that she would not need in heaven

.

She feared that she must soon take leave

of her life we all loved so dear

Days that took her so long to weave

would be gone in less than a year

.

We did not want to take her things

this could not be hap'ning today

How could we care about her rings

this time when we just craved her stay

.

No matter what, we dreamt or felt

her course was already plotted

The time it took, for her to melt

was less than had been allotted

.

This time each year, I always feel

despair for what no one could change

The days that did then, lose their zeal

remain and are no longer strange

..

..

Merry Christmas Mom

All I want for Christmas is a fifth

*

Al-

ways

portrayed

as a drunk on

**0*****0****0*

a binge a loser who

lives in the dark.Entrusted

with kids who think he's the best

he makes up his bed in the park.Is

**0********0*******0********0**

it because he works for a pittance or

are they so hard to be found. They don't

even need a big rounded gut perhaps they are

paid by the pound. On his Red throne he shares

**0*********0********0********0*********0**

his boney lap, his beard like the tail of a horse. We

all take our kids to see this great man the malls

favorite

treat,

Santa

Claus.

For You

Ave Maria

This is the only way I could get you to hear this...you may have heard it before but being in the mood I am today, I just discovered it....The song is a classic, Bono's rendition is wonderful...I think both are great and would love to share it with you...........enjoy.

Should I Would I Do I

Did you ever wonder what it was that you did wrong?
If it had been intentional I'd remember it wouldn't I?

Did you ever walk in a room and know something was amiss?
If it was important enough to me I'd recognize it wouldn't I?

Did you ever feel as if you didn't know what to do next?
If I was ambitious enough I'd know what it was wouldn't I?

Did you ever feel like you didn't care about any of these things?
If I really didn't care I wouldn't be asking about them now would I?

The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair Remembered

I remember going to the fair many times. We lived in Brooklyn and Sunday afternoons were often spent at the fair. I remember the Belgian Waffles with the whipped cream and strawberries, the Pieta, the flags, the big Globe, the monorail, and that huge tire. I was 6 in 1964 - it was great.

The minority rules

Who would have thought that this day would have ever gotten here?
Why didn't anyone tell me that I needed to keep track of the time?
Do you honestly think I knew all those days were being wasted?
Is there any way that I can somehow go back and change a few things?

Just a few minor things

I didn't think ignoring your needs all those years would cause an end like this.
There had never been any indication that I saw which led me to worry.
Taking things for granted has always been my forte but I guess this teaches me.
If only I could be given the chance for just one more yesterday; to change it.

Just a few minor things

Maybe if I had listened a little closer instead of being so self absorbed.
Perhaps if someone had mentored me on what the true meaning of love was.
I might not even need to ask for this today if I was who you expected me to be.
If I wanted you the way you wanted me, things would have been different.

Just a few minor things

copyright © 2007 ds mack

sigh

I wanted so desperately to keep this light, I wanted so much to be able to write about the fun and good stuff that's been happening. Right now I can't.

Sick or Treat!

The doorbell chimed

upon that night

and it was not a shock

When I peered out

the kids peered back

it must have been

a flock

.

I quickly counted

heads and found

it was a group of eight

And as I handed

out the treats

I dropped the whole

full plate

.

To my chagrin

they all began

to pounce like starving cats

Upon the sweets

as if they were

some tasty

little rats

.

When they rose

I saw their eyes

which glowed a neon yellow

I swear I saw

the whiskers grow

on the smallest

fellow

.

This tiny child

raised both his hands

which had become his paws

Furry knuckles

in my sight

now brandished

sharpened claws

.

The bile began

to rise within

my throat the acid flowing

I can't believe

the cause to be

claws and eyes

aglowing

.

They were so cute

what happened to

these little girls and boys

I guess in lieu

of sweet treats

I should have had

squeak toys

.

One by one

they all became

the felines eight from hell

It was just then

I heard again

the ring of

the doorbell

.

It startled me

onto my feet

out of my easy chair

I shook my head

and wiped my eye

and laughed at my

nightmare

.

..by DS

The Birth of a Prophecy

Most people rationalize it as a nine month wait but for Don and Elly it had been more like fourteen years before that day. They had gotten married at the young ages of nineteen and twenty one and knew that they had plenty of time to begin a family. There was so much to do right now that the thought of a child was the furthest thing from either of their minds and they were enjoying the new union of their lives.

Don worked down at the Pfizer plant and eventually became supervisor over the crew who bottled Dilantin Tabs for mass marketing. This was supposed to be some sort of anti-epileptic drug which had been used since the 70's but was of late being replaced by newly formulated drugs as well as those damned generics. Elly was a secretary to one of the head honchos upstairs and it wasn't until after the Christmas party of '93 that they started to see one another regularly. It hadn't taken them six months to realize that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together and when they married three years ago both sets of parents thought they were too young. This was the year however that they were going to get pregnant, it was time to start their family.

God knows they screwed like rabbits and every month they waited for her cycle to end hoping that her period wouldn't show it's ugly presence but every twenty sixth or twenty seventh of the month it appeared as if by clockwork. During the next seven years she had several possible miscarriages one in which the bleeding was so bad that she wound up in the hospital for a week. The tests results that week told them that she would never be pregnant again; they were heartbroken. It wasn't until they were into their eleventh year of marriage that they decided if they couldn't have a child of their own they would adopt and so they began a new mission.

Almost fourteen years to the day they were finally able to say they were parents; they finally had a child to call their own. The child they received was from Indonesian descent and was named Merpati, she was absolutely beautiful, she was a doll. During those first months with Merpati a strange and completely unexpected thing occurred. The twenty sixth, twenty seventh, twenty eighth, twenty ninth and thirtieth rolled by and no period. That next morning Elly used the early pregnancy monitor she had purchased the night before and discovered that the impossible was indeed possible and this time almost fifteen years to the day of their marriage their son was born. They named him Ramelan in honor of his big sister Merpati.