31 Beacham (2009)

years have passed and I still remember
the smell of nonna's kitchen
apple pancakes on the stove and lemon cake in the oven
(mom makes them now)

I remember mothball closets
knitting needles,
yellowing linoleum taped to the floor
that always managed to dogear and trip me
I was so clumsy I could trip on air, I still do...
green carpeting on the porch (porch grass?!?)
the cool maple leaf proudly displaying 31 Beacham
the locked milkbox I thought was a secret passage
that FASCINATED me, no one delivered milk anymore

I remember the orange plastic coffee cups
60s and 70s flare still alive in 1992 and beyond 
oh gosh, the firekings, I have my own now...

the christmas lights on in the middle of summer
the old tape recorder I tried to find when nonno died
someone had taped over a huge part of my childhood
                                      much like the yellowing linoleum taped to the floor
                  that managed to dogear and trip me
but I still remember...