SECTION TWELVE
POETRY PAGE TWO

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COLUMN SEVENY-THREE, JULY 1, 2002
(Copyright © 2002 Al Aronowitz)

LETTER FROM ED #3

[Born in 1917, Ed Galing calls himself the Poet Laureate of Hatboro, Pa.  He doesn’t have a computer, prefers a typewriter and bangs out chapbooks---23 of them so far. His latest is, appropriately enough, SENIOR CENTER, published by PEERLESS PRESS.  Here are more letters from Ed and three poems from SENIOR CENTER, which sells for five bucks.

Undated

Dear Al Aronowitz:

Here is my answer to "old age"---(get yourself a life!) Go to the Senior Center! All the old people who lost their youth go here.

You can put it on the Internet, on your great WEB! Only kidding! I wish you'd send me me something recent. Hell---you're just like everyone else too fuckin' busy to to sit down and send me a typed replay---how busy can you be, eh?

The wole world crashed on Sep. 11th! Anyway---don't mind me. I write from frustration, old age (84), disease, futility, & fuck everyone! Even you. Good luck! Love Ya! Cordially Ed Galing

SENIOR CENTER

every day i
go down to the
center
for my coffee
and donuts
and to meet
up with my
friends
herbie cohen
sol Weinstein
jake greenberg
    and many
others,
   we are a motley
crew;
   ages from 65
to 95,
   men and women,
listen, if you are
able to breathe
you can become a
member too,
    (if we will
let you)
    that's just
a joke;
    of course we
would,
    here you meet
the survivors of
world war 2,
    those who lived
through hitlers
holocaust,
    the homeless,
    those who have
lost their spouses,
and have no one to
talk to;
    I am the youngest;
i am only 84;
   (only kidding;)
but the oldest is
jake, a spry man
95, who is wheeled
in by his nurse every
day,
  to play cards with
the rest of us.  ##

* * *

CLUB ROOM 

my senior center
consists
  of a large day
room,
  television set
in the corner,
  large sofas and
chairs,
  where we all sit
around and watch the
tv shows,
   the price is right,
is one of the favorites,
    because bob barker is
one of us,
    a senior citizen himself,
his handsome frame, and
         thick grey hair
presents a dashing personality,
               his beaming face, and
chatter makes everyone in the room
feel good,
             and when the fancy prizes
are shown,
      we all take a chance and bid on
them,
     even though we are not part of the
show, of course,
      I watch those around me,
see those who fall asleep in their chairs,
and those who seem oblivious of where
they are all together,
            not everyone likes bob barker. ##

* * *

A HAVEN OF REFUGE

we have several
rooms
in our senior
center
but the favorite
room
is the main
dining room...
open from twelve
to three,
and for just
fifty centers,
we are able to
sit down at a
round table,
complete with
table cloths,
holding about
six or seven
people each,
being served
a great jewish
meal on a nice
day,
soup and salad,
chicken or fish,
while we rub
shoulders with
whoever is next
to us,
getting acquainted
all over again,
strangers when we
came in,
now no longer,
as we sip the soup,
eat our desert,
and no longer
alone in the world.  ##

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