ON CENTRAL PARK WEST
By Eric Mathern
Gaze up at a water tower
At a late nocturnal hour
And, If very fortunate, you will
See our resident barn owl.
Wings underlit by city light
The owl begins its silent flight
Toward the acres of Central Park,
Where creatures scurry after dark.
THE WEST SIDE THAT WAS: A MOSAIC
By Art Stamford
Exiles, musicians, druggies, crime,
the West Side I knew in a long-ago time.
* * *
You were careful where you walked
especially after dark,
and you definitely balked
at traversing Needle Park.
* * *
But there was also lots that made you come,
lots that drew you in,
no matter where you were from
no matter what you’d been.
* * *
Knickknacks and kitsch – you browsed Columbus Ave
for things you didn’t need but had to have.
Bargain stores stretched all along Broadway,
shopped Morris Bros. and Woolworth’s back in the day.
* * *
A Magnolia slice
is very nice
but I miss a canoodle
with a Lichtman strudel.
* * *
89th Street off Broadway,
remember what was there?
Trotsky’s tracts still held sway
up a rickety stair.
* * *
Hunan Balcony was spicy and hot,
so was the Border Cafe
good for your stomach they were not
I sort of liked it that way.
* * *
The Metro Cinema once showed porn
…under another name.
But that was before you were born
when the West Side wasn’t so tame.
* * *
The Sunday papers stacked up high
at 96th and Broadway.
You paused for a moment strolling by
late evening on a Saturday.
Time marched on; that newsstand’s gone-
we’ve come to the digital day:
Lost in their phones the crowds breeze along
where headlines once screamed away.
* * *
Warm bagel ovens-the H&H store-
like a little child lost when they closed their door.
But you can still dish
on Murray’s smoked fish.
* * *
The old Boat Basin had to go
it was rotten to the core.
But I’m not sure you’ll want to know
what it is they have in store.
* * *
Through the years, through the years,
through toil and tears,
through changes
both good and detestable,
we venerate and give thanks
to Gray’s papaya with franks
for making the West Side
digestible.
* * *
Subscribe to West Side Rag’s FREE email newsletter here. And you can Support the Rag here.
