Unloading boxcars on Erie Street for quick money taking anything that came along always on the run which was anywhere and going because I never stood still and sold siding, shoes, awnings, pots & pans you name it whatever came around the block I jumped and rode it until I got bucked or bored waiting for that one train the great chance to ride the rattling rails down that track U....
We will never leave the picnic at Thompsondale our mothers ever beautiful in their summer dresses Our fathers with straw hats and colored suspenders The blanket spread upon the meadow cane poles strung bobbers dancing over the slow moving stream The grape leaves gathered in the basket will never be taken home the sandwiches will be eaten again and again And clouds will gather and part the sun will rise and recede night will come And then tomorrow again and again
The best part of school was the window I looked out of?over the seen and imagine spaces there and beyond The school bell never sounded or announced its arrival inside my head I heard only the trees and birds singing and what the wind said Across the schoolyard tenement noises with cars passing and talking trucks everywhere The rag and tin man on his horse-driven cart and the excited fireman?...
You were not only the uncle of the man I most admired, you were also the uncle I longed for but never had. You were the jewel in the lost desert of the San Joaquin, in that city for which you and your nephew held the only promise for me, being your troubled admirer and friend. Like me you prized writing above all other human activities, and also like me you had done nothing about it yourself....