Howard who is maybe 92 or 93
said that he was on the bus and a woman
with many shopping bags maybe she
was homeless she said after he handed her
five dollars she was asking for money on the bus
she said to him Are You on a Fixed Income
and he said No but she didn’t believe him
and she said Here’s Three Dollars Change
Why Don’t You Take Another Dollar he said
and she said OK.
Last night we heard Sheila Jordan
amazing is not amazing enough
for Sheila Jordan singing on her birthday
same as Mickey Mouse we’re both 92 she said
Sheila bedecked as beautiful as songs
born in Detroit 17 year old mother
coal mining Pennsylvania grandparents
No Matter What she said No Matter What
she repeated to a full room at Birdland
there is always music.
A few years ago a 13 year old boy
won a Yiddish spelling bee by spelling
knaidel, Yiddish for Matzoh ball.
But YIVO, the official source for Yiddish words
in transliteration said the correct spelling
is kneydl and so the spelling bee officials
said YIVO was authoritative and the 13 year old boy
was disqualified even though most of us agreed
about knaidel. Many people Weighed In
with their knaidel kneydl opinions including
One Big Scholar. He said
Who Cares About the Transliteration.
Knaidelach are delicious
and that’s what actually counts.
Although I rarely write body poems, I write about
hives because there is a Happy Ending.
We all need those now.
I got hives in July. They just appeared . Arms and legs and I even
had a hive on my lip one day. No discernible source.
Every single day until November 11 hives appeared
I took Benadryl at night Zyrtec in the day
went to a few MDs
my favorite acupuncturist Chinese herbalist
named Frank I took remedies moved my energy around
did not eat this and that nothing worked I still had
hives and then one inauspicious day last week
they disappeared. Not even one hive on my elbow.
Still gone.
a French bakery opened half a block
from the movie theater on Bleecker and 6th
plenty of room to sit not too expensive you
can have a chocolate croissant
new Lebanese place Manousheh freshly made
Manousheh never had one before new movies
at the IFC theater I want to see them all
Audrey Flack today turns out that today has the strong
possibility even though these hearings continue
even though we don’t know who the Democratic
candidate will be and there are Big Problems every day
turns out today inspite of the cold maybe snow
tomorrow turns out today could be a very good day.
We don’t know what Ambassador Bill Taylor
will say. Kelly Anne Conway’s husband George
is unexpected. Glad a lawyer is doing the questioning.
House. Tones. Concerns. Adam Schiff a hero.
Other side hates him. Keep this in mind:
West Point. U.S. Army. Vietnam. Bronze Star.
The Federal Government. Lifelong Diplomats.
Pompeo. Mike Pence. Implicated.
What will they all say and do?
Now we are watching.