________________________________________________________________________________________________
The semester after graduating
high school in 1967,
I lived in a boarding house
within walking distance of
Suffolk County Community College
I lived there for eight months
before moving into
our Rocky Point "summer home"
which had finally been
winterized
Joe Curran
had longer hair
than any male
I had ever known
We became "reefer mates,"
occasionally consuming
what was then
known as an illegal substance
We made many jokes
about being white stoned
because of my family's
winter home
in Whitestone
In February, 1968
I told my parents
I wanted to bring
a friend home
for a visit
My sisters welcomed
the idea
but my parents
immediately arranged
to go skiing
in upstate New York
so as to avoid
whatever might have
happened
during that visit
But my AUNT BETTY
loved the idea
of substitute "parenting"
for a weekend
UNCLE PRESTON
equally welcomed
having their Bronx apartment
to himself
but was required
to sign a contract
obligating him
to feed their parakeet
With a sparkle
in her eye,
the very first words
Aunt Betty said
to Joe Curran
were these:
My parakeet's name
is Josefina
***
About the incorporated village
adjacent to Whitestone,
it has been said that
has a ghetto:
It's known as
the rest of Queens
So that is where we parked
my car on the one night
in 1968
when Joe Curran
slept in Whitestone
We parked my car
in Malba
—somewhere along the East River—
to smoke a joint
and for reasons
I cannot remember,
poet Joe Curran was put
in the driver's seat
Two of my local buddies
were in the backseat
Sure enough,
a NYPD patrol car
shined a light
on my 1968 Volkswagon
but it served to magnify
the length of Joe's hair
The police must have assumed
that my car contained
a couple smooching
in "Lover's Lane"
and they just drove away
!!!
Such was not the case
in 1968
but Joe Curran's hair
prevented what would have been
a police arrest,
guaranteeing my parents
would never again
leave Whitestone
when I brought home
an overnight guest
©©©
#4 is here
________________________________________________________________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment