It is 5:43 p.m. in New York a Saturday
one day before my birthday, yes
and the Manhattanville Viaduct with her face on it.
and I am sweating a lot by now (because it’s August)
and thinking of Barney Josephson, pushing 80
leaving his apartment in a snowstorm
to host at the Cookery and a young neighbor says
“Mr. Josephson, you shouldn’t go out there”
and he replies “I have to, she will be there from Roosevelt Island”
and indeed she is and so am I amidst a smattering of devotees
and Mr. Josephson dapper in a suit
he could have worn introducing Lady Day at Cafe Society
(several blocks and decades away)
tells of his young neighbor and up she bounds
impish smile launching into “My Castle’s Rocking”
(“I’m paying the cops for protection”)
and Gerald Cook and everyone and I breathe deeply
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Author: Alan Ziegler
