THE PRESENT MOMENT
It seems like yesterday I was sucking on a warm bottle of milk
as I watched moving shadows on my crib in South Ozone.
Where did it go?
Then I was running for my life after school
from Nazi Bundists at P.S. 153 who wanted to know
if I was a Jew. I always said—No, I’m a Greek.
Where did it go?
The next thing I knew I was driving a 1937 Dodge
in a snowstorm on the way to Iowa City. With no defroster,
I applied glycerin on my windshield so I could watch me do 360’s
on icy roads for well over 1000 miles.
Where did it go?
Afterwards I disappeared in combat boots
running from the Chinese at the Yalu River.
The steel plate in my head kept me alive.
Where did it go?
I found true love with you and your mystic charm
and soft white cheeks at Bnei Brakin 1960,
and lived happily ever after ever since.
Where did it go?
My life almost came to an end in the town of Sturgeon
on Saint Mary’s Bay when my boat capsized with a ton
of mackerel on the deck.
Where did it go?