Down In North Miami Beach

Hangin' in the Treme
Watchin' people sashay
Past my steps
By my porch
In front of my door

Church bells are ringin'
Choirs are singing
While the preachers groan
And the sisters moan
In a blessed tone

Down in the treme
Just me and my baby
We're all going crazy
While jamming and having fun
(Words and music by John Boutte)

Florida
Miami
1952
Me and my family
Living like
Gypsies
In a North Miami Beach
Roach motel
Euphemistically named
Lindenwood Gardens

I am five years old
And did not
Know shit
From shinola
(And still don’t
If you really
Want to know
But I digress)

We actually
Did have
A real house
To live in
Once upon
A time
To the best
Of my recollection
In Brooklyn
In Seagate
For a little while
At least
Life was
Almost
Normal

I do sort of
Remember
One beautiful
Fall day
In particular
It was Halloween
And all the kids
Were dressed up
In costumes
Banging on doors
Shouting
Trick or treat!
Trick or treat!

I was dressed
As a pirate
In a costume
That was all
Homemade
From
Aluminum foil
And cardboard
And the obligatory
Eye patch
I must have
Cut quite a
Dashing figure
And then
Before
You could say
Jackie Robinson
It was all over

For reasons
I never was
Able to fathom
For reasons
That were never
Fully explained
My whole family
My whole universe
Suddenly
Uprooted themselves
And moved
Lock
Stock and
Barrel
All the way
Down south
To Florida
To North Miami Beach
In 1952

At the time
My so-called family
My whole universe
Consisted of
Me
Mom
My older sister Yetta
My other older sister Flora
Her husband Larry
And their
Two daughters
Who were
My two nieces
One younger
One older

And we all soon
Found ourselves
Living like gypsies
In a roach motel
In North Miami Beach

By the time
I turned six
I could not
Remember
Any other life
And if I did
It just seemed
To be
Like a
Vanished
Dream

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, 2011