by Joe Farina
does a street have a memory,
beneath its many coats
does it remember every soul,
who walked upon it
does it long for a return,
to cobblestones and carriages
or quicken to the thunder
of street cars on silver tracks
drugged by combustion engines
does it remember being fashioned
by the din of picks and shovels
wielded by strange speaking labourers
until it gleamed, new, in overcoats
of smooth concrete and asphalt
marked with cryptic symbols
does this street have my dreams
leaking out its cracks
does it smile, as i, when
i stop to listen for its welcome back
both of us a forced reflection
of what we each once were
About the Author:
Joseph A Farina is a retired lawyer in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. An award winning, Pushcart nominee, internationally published poet, his works published in many poetry magazines notably Quills Canadian Poetry Magazine, The Windsor Review, and appears in the anthologies Sweet Lemons: Writings with a Sicilian Accent, Canadian Italians at Table, Witness and Tamaracks: Canadian Poetry for the 21st Century. He has had two books of poetry published — The Cancer Chronicles and The Ghosts of Water Street and an E-book Sunsets in Black and White. and his latest book, The Beach, The Street and Everything in Between.