was created
as part of
a campaign
to sell plots of land
on the North Shore
of Long Island
The year was 1938
No one from my family
was there at the time
but my parents bought
a summer home
in Rocky Point
in 1959:
Twenty-one years after
that beach scene image
was photographed
*********
The second photo
of Rocky Point
is from 2018
I moved from Rocky Point
to California in 1981
Thirty-seven years before
that Rocky Point Clubhouse
image was photographed
*********
In the first image,
a red line highlights
a black rock in
the water
In the second image,
a black line highlights
a red rose on
the table
You might ask why
I posted each photograph twice
and I might answer
Because two of the most
monumental memories
of my life are associated
with the highlighted details
Anyway, the AFTER memory
—approximately fifty years
after the beach photograph was taken—
involved a psychiatrist who was
more of a friend to me
than a therapist
That monumental moment
was articulated here
But the very specific memory
associated with the floor beneath
the red rose involved a bunch
of teenagers who paid ten cents
every Friday night in the summer of '62
at the Rocky Point Clubhouse
We danced to whatever
Rock 'n Roll songs
—or Rhythm 'n Blues
or Soul music—
Nicky Brozini played
on the phonograph
situated at the top
of the staircase
Please note:
Nicky is a life-long friend
who recently sent me
the 1938 postcard image
and without whom
this page would not exist
Anyway, at this particular ten-cent dance,
something spontaneous happened
which had never happened before:
This particular memory
is so monumental that I
may have posted it before
but it is so deeply tattoed
on my heart and soul
that it might as well be
written across the sky
I was dancing with Connie Torelli
She was three years older than me
and the same age as my sister
who was her best friend
The song was Dion's
Lovers Who Wander
This boy was thirteen years-old
in 1962 and was dumb enough
to never touch a sixteen year-old girl
I was more shy than sly
at that age and was never
the best dancer on the floor
but quite possibly
the most interesting
The next thing that happened
to Connie and Paul was...
her best friend and my sister,
LINDA OLIVERIO gathered
a whole bunch of kids around us
and within thirty seconds,
we were the only couple dancing
in the Rocky Point Clubhouse
I made less eye contact
with Connie than I did
with Linda and remember thinking
Sister Dearest, I'm gonna get you for this
The whole thing lasted
no longer than three minutes
but I have re-created it
in my head three thousand times
I have re-created it
in my heart and soul
three thousand other times
________________________________________________________________________________________________
