






there were signs
during the summer of 1968
she couldn’t remember my name







there were signs
during the summer of 1968
she couldn’t remember my name


my dad was a blue collar worker, an electrician
at one time he worked three jobs just to keep us afloat
going out to eat was a luxury and usually meant hitting up the little italian joint down the street
I liked playing the jukebox
one saturday he surprised us with a road trip to the shore
we swam in the ocean and stayed in a motel
I thought it was paradise

“There are three categories of people who exist in the world; “the wanters”, “the wishers” and “the makers.”
~ Israelmore Ayivor
The North End
Boston, Massachusetts

I see a train or the subway and I am transported back to the 1950s
my grandmother would take me on the train to Boston
(she always wore a dress and cuban heeled shoes)
for a day of shopping
and blueberry muffins from the bakery at Jordan Marsh
one time she took me to the movies
we saw Bambi and I cried all the way home