September 2015
Born in New York City (in Elmhurst), I lived in several different places there but have memories only of The Bronx (off Fordham Road). Then my family moved out "on The Island"—to Lynbrook, where we stayed till I graduated from Hofstra (then a College). Several years after my wife, Pat, and I married, we, plus our two children, settled in the Boston area and have remained there (except for my daughter, Kate, who has lived in Manhattan for quite a while). I have been writing poetry since I was twelve (many moons ago).
The More I Remember
the world
of the playpen, the teacher
in first grade who scolded me
in front of the whole class,
the time I kissed a girl
I really liked and discovered
what a kiss could mean, getting
an "A"—I can do this!—
in a freshman college course,
softly saying, "I do" while a door
in my life closed behind me
and another opened in front of me,
feeling the spotlight's glare
the day I began my first full-time job,
my soundless shout of joy
when I saw my new-born daughter,
suddenly confronting,
the day I retired, miles
and miles of wide open time—
the more I remember,
the more
it all seems as brief as the slide
of a raindrop off a leaf.
©2015 Robert K. Johnson