The Writer's Almanac

“The Writer's Almanac

WEDNESDAY, 2 APRIL 2003

Poem: "Unknown Neighbor," by Kate Light from Open Slowly (Zoo Press).



Unknown Neighbor

Hi, she says, leaning on the railing.
What are you doing, homework?
Well, sort of, I say. I'm waiting for my friend.
I'm waiting for my heart, she says.
(Me too, I think; my friend.)
Out on a long walk? I ask.
Well, she says, I have a girl friend, I've known
her 50 years; once in a while we get together
for dinner. She comes around here to Chelsea, she says.
Use to be I just had arthritis and rheumatism, now -- it's a pain
in the neck -- I got a convulsive heart. I come from
Twenty-second and Eighth, where I'm helping
my brother. For me that's a long walk.
So I wait.
I used to climb mountains! she says.
I was young like you, she says.
But I got no squawk -- I've done a lot --
and maybe more to do, she says;
who knows? And, waving, off she goes.




(and a Happy Birthday to Giacomo Casanova, Hans Christian Andersen and Émile Zola, <G>)”

“I must be a philistine. I don't get it.”

“Cut yourself a little slack, <G>.”