Manhattan Melody
by
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"FERRIES" is in the collection of the Ellis Island Museum
We rode the ferry in the clasp of a harvest moon
The Staten Island ferry
And it was dreadnought
Passing Liberty Island, a long kiss
I cuddled and yearned
Those contradictory hours afloat
Churning New York harbor
Shortest, endless voyage
Between terminal and terminal
And seeing no terminus, I blurted:
"I feel immortal!"
Don't tempt Fate en route to Staten Island
The First Cause found cause
College was done and
Boundless time to decide the rest
Wow! To be at liberty in Manhattan
And the torch I carried
Surely situated now in middle age
Freighted with regrets
While luckier in later love than deserved
I do not dread death
Charon and the Staten Island ferry both charge
I only need to coin an immortal passage
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About the Book
Patricia Faith Polak is an adventurous world traveler whose experiences have led her to appreciate the island she calls home, and now to poetically reflect on the beauty and cultural diversity of Manhattan.
Polak’s varied verse not only explores the past as hot cocoa is sipped at Schrafft’s and a nickel’s worth of macaroni and cheese is devoured at the Automat, but also reflects on present day as an indigo sky illuminates the city, the sun glows on the tree-shaded paving cobbles outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a park near the East River welcomes nannies, a grassy café in Greenwich Village lures guests, a chic gallery on the Lower East Side hosts an opening, and as a redhead looks expectantly toward a paper-capped soda jerk in an Edward Hopper painting.
Manhattan Melody shares fifty contemporary reflections from an award-winning poet that share a fresh perspective on the beauty and diversity that surrounds a New York island.
About the Author
Patricia Faith Polak holds a master of arts in writing and a master of fine arts. When she is not traveling, she works in investments and writes award-winning poetry. Patricia’s adventures have taken her from the Middle East to North Africa and to spending two eventful years in Eastern Europe and the then Soviet Union. She and her husband now call New York home.