Poem - ghosts of water street: epilogue by Joseph A Farina

 

ghosts of water street:  epilogue

 

                        I

i look down

upon the present nakedness of water street

suited, tied, briefcase in hand

in air conditioned comfort

ashamed, i turn away

only to be drawn back

a voyeur, season after season

the changing light and shade,

upon the few remaining homes

archipelago like in their loneliness,

their only constant.

 

                        II

no one sits on front porches

no one tends side-yard gardens

rich with goldenrod and too much rhubarb

old garages stand slanted, doors locked

hoarding fragments of old dreams

in rotting cardboard boxes - abandoned -

they remain the last testament of a dying street

 

                        III

the land where Holmes Foundry stood

waits for a resurrection -

torn down- environmentally cleansed

only weeds,  rubble and controversy flourish

while its pensioned workers, all dead

and dying by cancer’s severance kiss

bless its memory of employment

curse its negligence in court

winning judgments, measuring

their life and worth

in currency they can never use

and like their future

leave behind.

 

                        IV

our lady of mercy has closed it’s doors

directed by the diocese

no longer needed, superfluous

it’s calling bell silenced

sold , cleared of home rooms

renovated for commerce

it’s cross and name, carved deep in stone

covered with aluminium- muffling

the call to morning prayers and the angelus at noon

to spreadsheets and business plans

our play yards:  parking lots.

 

                        V

the living ghosts give testament and tribute

to life before to-day

face to face we share our past -

of water street’s dark secrets,

try as we did to forget beginnings,

we are forever it’s rust stained children

branded by our address

marked by who we were

our eyes still reflecting the hollowness

and the promises we made

to leave this street to others.

we did

we left

but can we ever get away?

Joseph A Farina - is a retired lawyer in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. He is an award winning poet, internationally published in Europe and Middle East. Published in Quills Canadian Poetry Magazine, Ascent, Subterranean Blue and in The Tower Poetry Magazine, Inscribed, The Windsor Review, Boxcar Poetry Revue, his work also appears in the anthologies Sweet Lemons: Writings with a Sicilian Accent, canadian Italians at Table, Witness and Tamaracks: Canadian Poetry for the 21st Century. Published in U.S. magazines Mobius, Pyramid Arts, Arabesques, Fiele-Festa, Philedelphia Poets and Memoir and in Silver Birch Press Series. He has had two books of poetry published— The Cancer Chronicles and The Ghosts of Water Street and an E-book Sunsets in Black and White and his latest book, The beach, the street and everything in between.