Neighbors

Neighbors (July , Aug 1992)

"I'm your neighbor,"

or so he said..

this handsome young lad

from Bean Town.

He was visiting for a summer's week

down by the lake;

in that old summer place.

For ten years, now,

I've driven past

never really stopping to notice

the owners...

or , their guests.

***

When Dorothy was at the wheel,

she would whiz past my gallery sign,

involving her companions in pleasant conversation

of how, things "used to be".

Her carload of travelers

were absorbed within,

unable to elicit any response

to the world around them.

This year, a lad was their guide;

showing the ladies about the town

with colorful resplendence.

The young explorer coud not pass

with mere comment,

and directed the atuto

towards my door.

They entered my shop with quiet amusement.

Conversation was had on unusual topics.

This amiable event

led to a quickened "invite"

to their summer place.

My time was taken

by the ladies and their lad.

I heard their stories,

and they, mine;

as we laughed the hours past

upon the great white porch.

They told me of times long ago

and I felt their longing

for those who have passed on,

leaving them behind

to entertain me.

But it was the youthful lad

who focused my attention.

Had we met in some distant land?

Was he my brother...

from another lifetime?

When were our souls linked?

There was but one week

of comaraderie between us,

interwoven with the intense romance

of friendship.

There were times,

when he and I could break away

to laugh by ourselves

and drain each others memories.

Only during such times,

would I once again notice

those small things

that make up my world.

The unpicked flower

or mossy carpet

found in my own woods;

that I had somehow neglected

to value,

as I wove myself

into my own narrow world.

***

One evening, with few stars about,

he called by telephone

to arrange a meeting...

It was his desire to walk together;

to meet halfway,

between his place and mine.

So I fought back the "man in black"

to make this meeting possible;

to be, in turn, rewarded,

by hours of company;

and grasping

to know each others' secrets.

Dorothy's cough broke the silence between us.

"Look at the house!", he said

And, for the first time, I noticed

that it was alive with light.

"Mine are the windows on the right".

"There!"

"From my bed, I can hear the loons,

that sing me to sleep each night."

We stood in the darkness

only a few feet apart.

For hours, we shared our life's fears

and pulled closer,

in body and mind.

(Frozen statues,

unable to act upon our desires!)

It was the long silence between us,

that broke us apart.

"I really must go", he said.

"The ladies will think I have abandoned them!".

***

The week of adventure flew past

without ever stopping to rest.

And, in time,

the lad and the ladies

were somhow recaptured

by the city below.

In their absence,

It came upon me,

to pass the old summer place

once more.

I never before cared

who came or went

or if the windows should be opened

to blow away the winter air.

Now, things have changed.

I cannot pass the old house

without hearing within the silence of my soul

the sounds of laughter;

of the two ladies

and their lad.