Poetry on Tuesday

Earlier today, we introduced you to area poet , who regularly reads his work at Starbucks in Little Neck Plaza as part of the Performance Poets Association.

We thought you might want to see some of this work for yourself on this rainy Tuesday afternoon. 

It’s All About The Day

Perched above the river perfect June day

4 friends from back in the day talking

Catching up on lives spooling by the

Hudson below, above a placid sky

Outdoor seating at the Thayer Hotel

Arlene, our waitress, been around a while

Less than her full amount of teeth, I like her smile

We order 3 Diet Cokes, 1 cranberry juice, she gets it wrong

Doesn’t matter, it’s all about the day, the setting

Turkey buzzards launched on thermals, mid-day birds’ songs

The 4 of us at West Point, 4 civilians, in our 60’s

How did we get here, lucky to be here, lucky

To be anywhere except where soldiers, trained

Where we are relaxing, are dug in, alert and

In dire places, prepared to die for millions who

Never even think about them, caught up in the

Current of our lives, relaxing, having lunch

Thinking about the food, way better than army food

But still not very good when you’re used to the good

Life, the life back home where people love you

Love you so much they can’t help taking you for

Granted, being busy, taking being busy for granted

The way we take the river for granted because

Now with tankers, barges, kayaks, jet skies, powerboats, the river

Is only background, the way it passes by, far

Enough away to be scenic, deep running currents no threat

At one time swift painted canoes skimmed the tides

So long gone there’s no one to forget them

We 4 friends, together and sharing today

Not too busy to notice the river below, sky above

Copyright 2011 Jamie White