The Tookany Review
Fall/Winter 2005 Poetry written by Cheltenham Adult School Workshop Participants
poems
In this issue
Norman Auerbach
Mike Schwab
Edited by Deborah Fries
At this
time, the Tookany Review
is only accepting the work of
writers who are enrolled
or have been enrolled in
Cheltenham Adult School
writing workshops.
For
more information about
writing workshops offered by
the Cheltenham Township Adult School, contact:
Cheltenham Township Adult
School
1414 Panther Road
Wyncote, PA 19095
Phone: 215-887-1720
Mike Schwab
Two poems
Kruezburg
A surprise place unexpected
A circular plaza with a small fountain
Five streets coming into it
Four going out
A mostly turn of the century feel
With some 1920 building refreshments
Streets wide enough for a small car parked
And a small car to pass
Lots of shops around the plaza
And on the streets leading off
Not new but bright signs
Peeling paint off wood, tin, stucco
Buildings two, three stories high
Up against one another crowding one another
Maybe holding each other up
Cafes with curtains in their windows
Barber shop, Bakery, Deli, Fabrics
Grocery, Fruit, Immigrant fast foods,
Tea and coffee, Beer and wine
Massage parlor, Palm readers, Electronics
Music from shops, from cars, from walkers
From talkers, from children, From Mothers
From Hawkers, From Mosque, From Church,
Very busy, very funky
My wife is in a woman’s only Turkish massage
This place is not Turkey but, I think, could be
I sit in a café drinking coffee
Watching the traffic pass
I think that back home this would be a trendy location
Cheap digs for artists and creatives
An atmosphere that appeals
Eventually to young well off
Changing its nature to high rents
Expensive cafes, exotic restaurants
Artists moving out to newer digs
Leaving behind less funk, more same gleam
My delight becomes melancholy
I become Nostalgic over this place
For what it was
Someone said we live in the past, present and future.
Life
He came in late
The two hotties had been gone
Long enough for me to seethe
They couldn’t wait any longer
You blew it my friend
Are you angry, he said
Shouldn’t I be?
Not at me
I’m alive but I’m not life
An accident held up traffic
This stuff makes life life
And not something else.
He always talked like this
Mike Schwab is a retired social worker who lives in Philadelphia.