On the "road" to adulthood my life took many turns and twists, I recall the night my friends and I got to the What's It Club dance at the nearby Catholic Church too late to be allowed in, so we "cruzed" the neighborhood looking for girls. For once we found some, and as we began to talk to them out the window of my mother's car, their very pissed of boyfriends drove up and the chase began. This poem describes that night on the "road".
Rear View Mirror
We raced to save our lives
that cold dark night
fearing being beaten to death.
Away from the car too small
for the refrigerator-sized older boyfriends
streaming out like killer clowns
under the big top
straight from hell
going to kill us
all for a few words
sweet talk and smiles
to the girls we found wandering there.
Terrified we pealed out
perfect timing
my partners later said
lost them in the stadium lot too fast
too scared
laughing
still
looking in my rear view mirror
for weeks to follow.
I was the hero then.
A year or so later on my way through the 6o's, my "road" brought me and my car to friend's house. I was to pick Dave and his older brother up to go see the Doors in concert. Arriving at Dave's, I found the front door completely open, front room and hall dark. After knocking I crept in cautiously. Following hushed words coming from the direction of their kitchen i entered the family Passover Seder just in time to be welcomed as Elijah. This it turned out was my first near miss with Judaism , the faith that I had been longing for even though I did not know it at the time. It took me another 40 years to arrive at my Promised Land. The long trip that began with a drive on the "road" to the Door's concert that night came to pass along my path to becoming a Jew when I was 57 years old.
Here is my poem about that night.
Dave Goldman’s Seder
On the way to see the Doors
that night
I found myself Elijah
at a door
made open
bidding me welcome
the voices called from deep with in
come in.
Entering the laughter of parents
and the scowls of elders in ties and suits
distracted
I missed His invitation that night
But not the path.
Sticking to the wheel I arrived !
Bob
Rear View Mirror
We raced to save our lives
that cold dark night
fearing being beaten to death.
Away from the car too small
for the refrigerator-sized older boyfriends
streaming out like killer clowns
under the big top
straight from hell
going to kill us
all for a few words
sweet talk and smiles
to the girls we found wandering there.
Terrified we pealed out
perfect timing
my partners later said
lost them in the stadium lot too fast
too scared
laughing
still
looking in my rear view mirror
for weeks to follow.
I was the hero then.
A year or so later on my way through the 6o's, my "road" brought me and my car to friend's house. I was to pick Dave and his older brother up to go see the Doors in concert. Arriving at Dave's, I found the front door completely open, front room and hall dark. After knocking I crept in cautiously. Following hushed words coming from the direction of their kitchen i entered the family Passover Seder just in time to be welcomed as Elijah. This it turned out was my first near miss with Judaism , the faith that I had been longing for even though I did not know it at the time. It took me another 40 years to arrive at my Promised Land. The long trip that began with a drive on the "road" to the Door's concert that night came to pass along my path to becoming a Jew when I was 57 years old.
Here is my poem about that night.
Dave Goldman’s Seder
On the way to see the Doors
that night
I found myself Elijah
at a door
made open
bidding me welcome
the voices called from deep with in
come in.
Entering the laughter of parents
and the scowls of elders in ties and suits
distracted
I missed His invitation that night
But not the path.
Sticking to the wheel I arrived !
Bob