241 (Two Forty-First) Street...

I remember your basement
and the buckets of rain,
the garden at the edge the Bronx
and the sound of the passing trains
the smell of the pizza
and the yells from the boys
as we darted between the cars
amid the clamor and the noise
See your crooked, nervous smile,
your eyes darting everywhere
how you always used to say,
"because it's so damn rude to stare"
You were the first to call me cousin
a word i have kept with me all these years
i'll not soon lose it either
nor will it be washed away by today's tears
For now the words from years ago
tell me what we both knew
when we were young
Farewell, old friend
till we meet again
there's one more song yet to be sung...
              03-25-10