PSSSSST!! HEY -- YOU!! YA WANNA GO TO BROOKLYN?? AWRIGHT!!! |
This picture is from "Big Cats On Line" Please visit the site and learn more about savng our endangered species |
Freight Train Lullaby Copyright (c) 1980, 1992, 2000 Azar Attura On lonely nights when the dark is deep, And all the world Is fast asleep I hear a whistle in the black Of freight train, on a faraway track........ The mournful whistle, wrapped in gloom Deepens the night's shade in my room And stirs my soul with visions wide Of speeding train and dark country-side......... Ensconced in a boxcar, I'd like to be -- Watching the whole world drift by me: Tenement and mountain shack, Infinity of railroad track. The lonely whistle sounds again As the train goes slowly 'round the bend, To disappear beyond the trees And wail again in another breeze. - - - - - - - - - - - |
Photograph @ 1968, 1980, 1992, 2000 Azar Attura |
A Walk With My Dad -- the Bronx, 1951 Copyright (c) 2000 Azar Attura When things are bleak and I want to frown I shade my eyes and I look straight down A distant street from old Bronx days Where my Dad and I walked in sun and haze. He held my hand, I was only five And it felt so good to be alive The grass was green, the sidewalks bright; I'd run and skip with all my might! Osage Orange trees would drop their fruit In the autumn, it was such a hoot To see these huge "limes" on the sidewalks there All wrinkled and strange....little Ace would stare! But I'd skip and I'd sing on those sidewalks gleaming With fresh washed sunlight -- almost like dreaming! And Dad was always solid, there - Those were the times with not a care! To my right -- a big fence and a beautiful lawn And -- piano music, so sweet and strong! Such glorious notes soaring in the air -- The Institute for the Blind was situated there. I marveled at the sightless song That has played in my memory for so long Such beauty from one who could never see Made more beauty surrounding us, my Daddy and me So when I feel like I want to frown. (Hey, Ace, don't let life get you down!) I remember the beauty of that far-away song And my Daddy and me near that beautiful lawn. Bless you, unknown pianist who dwelled in shade I want to tell you that you made Such a difference in my life back then I give thanks to you, when I "Remember When". Azar "Ace" Attura Pelham Parkway 1946 -- 1961 -- God Bless the Bronx!!! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ |
Monday's Journey To Friday Copyright © 2000 Azar Attura Catching the bus. Gotta wake up first. Webs of dreams cling to me like blankets. Semi-comatose wakeup call. Feed the cats. No time to feed me. Larry's Cookies for breakfast again. Four creams in Hazelnut Coffee. Such are my morning mega vitamins. Waiting for bus. Still asleep on my feet. Discreetly making sure I'm fully dressed. Cool today. No time to zip up jacket. Bus'll be warm. Natch. Hello hello, sit down, read read, pull buzzer. Stumble out rear door Did you know if you hold the rear door open, the bus can't move? (Unless the driver hits the override). Good way to get back at nasty drivers "Hey driver, I'm outta here -- you'll move when I say you move!!" Tee hee. Walking past multicolor bushes flanking Macy*s (yes we have one down here!) The side of the building providing comforting bulk of presence. Hello Macy*s, I'm broke -- where's your sub-basement??? (I was almost born in Macy*s Manhattan -- would I have been a bargain?) Putting one foot after the other. Slowly waking up. Destination -- Metro "Subway" station straight ahead. Wind picks up. Feels like rain. Walking through oily slog of humid day. Fresh pastry smells wafting through manhole grates from under-street bakeries. Giants at work at the ovens, cooking lost souls wrapped in croissant dough. Early morning felines, front-porch sitting. Watching me, wind blowing hard against grain of cats' fur. Kitty smiles giving way to stern impassive dour teddy-bear expressions. Go back inside, you should be sleeping. Mine are. Am I gonna be late? Nah -- not ready to hit the office yet. Metro can wait a while longer. Escalate down to mall food court. Briefcase cast aside for snack food. The oily crunch of Terra Chips. Aromatic crustiness. Licking fingers while escalating to surface. Street noises, street smells, rush hour. Sniff Sniff. Pollution day today. One smokestack = 50,000 cars or 10,000 buses, whichever comes first. Can't wait for Tuesday........ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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Black Panther, Bronx Zoo, July 2001 © 2002 Azar "Ace" Attura Sitting in majestic man-made glass lair, treed canopy, jungle vines Serene In the Bronx. I meditate on your majesty. Warm Black pelt of pride, melanistic spots Green eyes like liquid pools of deep dark jungle floor. I run with you. Your gaze may be of bars But your heart runs forever free. Take me with you. |
This picture is from "Big Cats On Line" Please visit the site and learn more about savng our endangered species |
Who's this cute little kid? It's ACE, in....Arlington VA (1955). You didn't know I wuz a citizen of two countries? (the Bronx AND Arlington VA) CLICK on the photo ! |
For Arlington Memories, look below.. |
PSSSSST!! HEY -- YOU!! YA WANNA GO TO BROOKLYN?? AWRIGHT!!! |
