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.