Escape from Bergen Street

(For my childhood friends)

“Friends are the sunshine of life.”………John Hay

Amongst the throng of memories, Amongst

The times that were…… I remember

Bergen street.

That street in Brooklyn where the number 65

Bus used to travel after they got rid of the

Trolley car.

Early on I made friends on Bergen Street

Not in the projects, but just across the

Other side

Almost daily I’d make that trip to see my

friends.

Mama could watch me as I made my way

Always being careful to cross at the light

Passing the red fire box on what seemed

Like the other side of the world sometimes

Away from the projects – different worlds yet

The same.

And there we grew up…The three of us.

Trying to figure out

A way to get out – to go beyond Bergen street

Our only escape would be sitting in the window

Sneaking cigarettes and singing the songs of

The times…….

“Going in Circles”, “You’re the Reason Why”, “Ooh

Baby Baby”, “The Tracks of My Tears”……..

Dreaming of things and places far away

Playing scrabble, eating junk food just being

kids

We promised to keep each other’s secrets

We told each other stories, we dreamed big

dreams and waited patiently/impatiently for

Our opportunity.

And we did manage to get out – travelled far and wide

And though our paths went completely different

Ways, we managed to always keep each other

Close in heart. When I think of home – I think

Of them. When they hurt, I hurt. They are

My past, my present all in between. We are

All so different and yet the same. The same

Heartbeat, the same memory – the fullness

Thereof.

I need only to pass that street –

That street in Brooklyn where the number 65

Bus used to travel after they got rid of the

Trolley car. That street that binds us

Together – Bergen Street – that place called HOME