New York City: In Small Spaces

By Alfred J. Canecchia

New York City:In Small Spaces is a compilation of poems about life, love, nature, history, disillusionment, and mortality. The prose depicts life experiences in the tarnished yet hallowed city.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781796094558

Alfred J. Canecchia

Alfred J. Canecchia is a self-taught singer, musician, artist, poet and writer. He was born in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village and has lived in the Bronx for the past thirty five years. The city and its people have always inspired him.

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Copyright © 2020 by Alfred J. Canecchia.

Library of Congress Control Number:  2020905166

ISBN:                  Hardcover                     978-1-7960-9457-2

                             Softcover                       978-1-7960-9456-5

                            eBook                             978-1-7960-9455-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 03/19/2020

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CONTENTS

Odes To Life & Love

Erato

Para Mi Amor

Butterfly

Passage

Reality

Illumination

By The Fire

This Room

Eyes Open

Who Could Say?

Cape Cod

Dos Amigos

O Captain, My Captain! (9/11)

They Came

Meant For Me

Angels In Scrubs

Next Time

Listen!

Tomorrow

Among The Apple Trees

Children Stay Young

Progeny

Grazie!

Parting

Lady Of Liberty

Manhattan

What A Band!

Stopping By The Resort

Palapa 25

The Soul Is Dying

If

Montage

Eureka

Wow

You

El Sol

Wild Horses

Someday

Tolerance

Oh Michelangelo!

Two

The Way

U

Lucas And Zoe

Jude & Jonathan

Up/Down

Once

Time

Fallen Angel

Desideratum

Charles Street

How Strong

When It’s Real

Toilest

Frost Bitten

Sortilgio

In Return

An Ordinary Day

Musings At Coral Cay

A Life

Banyon

The Lake

Warm Tub

Birdfeed

At The Gym

On The Bench

A Nest

Rain

Anticipating

Except

Imagination

Shooting Star

A Sea Life

Drumpf

In A Nutshell *

One Day (Observation)

Historical Poems

Un Conte Ancien

Ab Ova

Ode To The American Century

The Trodden Way

Intimations Of Mortality

Where?

Short Time

Restless

Old Now

One Of Us

Together

The Road Taken

Untitled

After

I’ll Be Home

In A World

City For Conquest

Clingman’s Dome

The Wind Whispers

The Storm

Art

Survive

Irma

Enigma

My Father

Lost

Useless

Only A Dream

Nothing More

Words

Unprepared

D.O.A.

Nonsense

Omega

Life

Sanctuary

A Question?

Late

Ever Changing

One

Here I Stand

Article 1: Section 3

Autumn

Guardians

Promise

Speak To Me

Promises Unkept

In Front Of You

A Mirror

Broken Down

Odd Man Out

What Portrait Do I Paint?

Out Of Time

At First Glance

Fire & Light

Tell Me

Evil

A Compromise

Comme-ci, Comme-ca

The Death Of Me

Alone On Earth

Sometimes

One Day

Living

Above All Else

Too Late

The Tender Warmth

No Bodies

What You Are

Round In Circles

Another Try

A Jumble

Meaningless

Welcome Me

This Corner

Take Me Away

Easter Sunday 2019 A Divided Nation

Have I Been Here Before?

Late Autumn Verses/ Early Winter Rhymes

Our Dying Earth

Still

16A0087

Sinned

A Child Of God

What Man Searches For

Time Is Running Out

What Is Life?

Late Autumn Verses

All Things

In Small Spaces

Withered

Prose

Mimi Goes To Harlem

Forsaking All

Dreams To Die For

Black Widow

In The Eye Of Wilma

Satire

Letter To The Editor

Oak House

Alfred Canecchia

for Roberta,

ODES TO LIFE & LOVE

ERATO

Like Radine, the star crossed lover

Of antiquity, I invoke you.

Guide my quest through life

To seek consolation in artistic expression

Become my mistress!

When you call, I will follow:

Because you quench my desire,

Satiate my longing, solace my despair.

I finally stand naked, vulnerable, alone;

Yet reborn in my confession,

My revelation, my salvation.

Visit me once more, for the night is falling,

And I am at risk.

Come, sweet Muse, and rescue me.

Lest I spiral down,

Adrift in an ocean of doubt, fear,

Loneliness, regret and heartache.

Erato: My Muse, my mistress.

Inspire me!

PARA MI AMOR

Riches were never mine

Only love can I give

Being the sole gift

Equal to what I receive

Rob me of innocence

Take possessions away

After all, there is you.

BUTTERFLY

Like a butterfly

That sheds its cocoon

When the time has come

My heart too

Has taken wings

And now it’s on the run!

PASSAGE

Oh to free our minds of thought

And escape the boundaries

Of consciousness

To navigate the universe.

Like the wombs we came from

Our passage to freedom

Awaits us.

REALITY

Who threw out the garbage?

I’ll have the pumpkin pie, please

Then make it up in carnage

Even if I have to freeze

Watch me run out in the nude

How do we ever manage?

Don’t you dare be so rude

Is this all life is? You tease.

Just a brief comic interlude.

ILLUMINATION

We are put here

A little dot

In an ocean of sky

To understand the plot

We can only try

We are put here

A little spot

What’s the difference?

So What

We can all fly.

BY THE FIRE

Come sit by the fire

We’ll roast marshmallows,

Gaze at the stars

Talk about dreams

It’s warm and comfortable here.

Come sit by the fire

Look towards tomorrow

The night will open its arms

To embrace us

Come sit by the fire

Next to me.

THIS ROOM

This room I have built

Lets in the sunshine

Keeps out the rain

Harbors the joys and the sorrows

Conquers the loneliness and the pain

This room I have built

This room I have built

Enables me to share

The blessings of love

And the hardships to bear

This room I have built

Is my life.

EYES OPEN

When I open my eyes

What’s there for me?

A world overwhelming

So hope I must borrow

To keep my soul free

From the elation and despair

The truth and the lies

If I wake tomorrow

The new day will bring

What is meant to be

When I open my eyes

What will I see?

What’s there for me

When I open my eyes?

WHO COULD SAY?

As I walk along my way

I will contemplate the day

That stretches before my eyes

And causes me to realize

Most of what I sought was mine

In that lesson I can find

That life was really not unkind

Just perhaps a camouflage

Appearing like a desert mirage

Of a truth we cannot know

Or a dream that would not show

Where we are and where we’ve been

Who could say this was a sin?

To be blessed, so I pray,

As I walk along my way.

CAPE COD

The horizon melts

Into the sky

While weathered dunes

Stand guard

Holding back

The surging tide

My thoughts wander

In an aimless tumble.

As the restive wind

Caresses my cheek

The ocean’s spray

Washes me

My spirit is revived

And I breathe anew

The cool fresh air

Along the shore

On Nauset Beach.

DOS AMIGOS

I’m looking forward to seeing you

After such a long time

How do we break the ice

To renew an old friendship?

Offer an awkward embrace,

Perhaps a kiss on the cheek?

Who will begin our conversation,

And what do we say?

Will your smile be as warm

As your heart once was?

I’m looking forward to seeing you

Though still lost

In confusion

I’m looking forward to seeing you

But that’s an illusion.

O CAPTAIN, MY

CAPTAIN! (9/11)

A clear blue sky

Pre-Autumn bliss

A perfect morning

To end like this

A plane hits

The North World Trade Tower,

Then the South

Both are gone in an hour

Brave responders

Rush to intervene

So many will die

In this horrible scene

How to bear such carnage done?

Of all these souls

I knew but one

I mourn them all

This is my town

I mourn a friend

FDNY Captain Patrick Brown.

THEY CAME

They came in numbers

To recover the dead

Fragments of bones

Bits of flesh

Was what they found

Instead.

Thousands were lost

At the scene

For them

Rescue and recovery

Was their dream.

They dug through the rubble

Hours on end

Looking for a husband,

A wife or a friend.

They came in numbers

In spite of the toxic air

It was a living hell

But everyday

They were there.

The first responders

Were on the job

The day the towers

Fell.

MEANT FOR ME

I stood on a mountain

And looked at the sea

What in this life

Is meant just for me?

The turmoil, the strife,

The heartbreak, the loss,

All the roads and bridges

That have to be crossed

To get where I am

But where does it lead

And what is the meaning

If you can’t be freed

From the shackles and bonds

So I keep on going

Around the next bend

Through each day’s journey

That comes to an end

Where I climb a mountain

And look at the sea

Hoping one day I’ll find

What’s in this life

Meant just for me.

ANGELS IN SCRUBS

Angels in scrubs

Who treat the ill

Your tender care

Their hearts does fill

With hope and strength

To journey on

Towards good health

And life beyond

You’re always there

To give a smile

Those cheerful words

Will soothe a child

A helpful hand

For those too old

You bring the warmth

That heals the cold

This noble work

In which you shine

Angels in scrubs

You seem divine

So we all stand

To say aloud

Our dedicated nurses,

You make us proud.

NEXT TIME

Next time, not a slave

Next time, to be brave

Next time, have the nerve

Next time, ahead of the curve

Next time, not be frightened

Next time, be enlightened

Next time, no surrender

Next time, raise thunder

Next time, get my way

Next time, hell to pay

Next time, won’t be cruel

Next time, play no fool

Next time, can’t be shaken

Next time, won’t be taken

Next time won’t be sullied

Next time, can’t be bullied

Next time, I’ll be smoking

Next time, shan’t be broken

Next time, not a flop

Next time, reach the top

Next time, I won’t take it

Next time, I will make it

Next time, won’t give in

Next time, I will win.

NEXT TIME!

LISTEN!

time wasted

money invested

gain prevented

loss dissented

sun reflected

love rejected

plant inspected

mole detected

drug injected

role selected

work related

outcome fated

girl molested

boy arrested

blame resisted

pain persisted

law protested

food digested

vermin infested

brakes rusted

system busted

leaders distrusted

war promoted, peace devoted

life disrupted, values corrupted

mankind flustered, God disgusted!

TOMORROW

Tomorrow

When the sun lifts its head

I will roll out of bed

And sing my song

All the birds will sing along

Tomorrow, when I sing my song

Tomorrow

When the road is clear

We will walk without fear or regret

No one can forget the sorrow

Of what used to be

Your little girl needs shoes

And your woman’s got the blues

You work to get that pay

And sweat it every day

But your glory train won’t come

And you have no place to run

There is joy that life can bring

All you’ve got to do is sing

Tomorrow, when the sun lifts its head

I will roll out of bed and sing my song

All the birds will sing along

Tomorrow, when I sing my song.

AMONG THE APPLE TREES

Among the apple trees

Carved in the wood

Two hearts entwined

Love is surely understood

Yesterday this tree was bare

And yet I know

That love can grow

Where there is no love at all.

Under the cherry leaves

Some people say

Love lingers on

Then slowly steals away

I say that love never dies

For those who know

That love can grow

Where there is no love at all.

Let a seed fall from your hand

A flower will grow

Let the seeds of your heart find their way

And the world will glow.

Among the apple trees carved in the wood

Two hearts entwined.

CHILDREN STAY YOUNG

Children laughing bring the sound of Spring to my ears

Their music and song will last throughout the years

Children stay young to remind the world

That there are still such things

Stay young, stay true

Let those who have destroyed your dreams

Grow old for you.

Children playing bring forgotten tears to my eyes

Their love of all creatures should never die

Children stay young to remind the world

That there are still such things

Stay young, stay true

Let those who have destroyed your dreams

Grow old for you

For when you realize what we have done

Who will be left to forgive us?

Who will be left to forgive us?

PROGENY

In an ordinary life

As night follows day

You take in a breath

Then give one away

We are at the mercy

Of ever changing tides

In this bust and boon

Twice my star would rise

Once in late June

Again, September Ides

The truth is in my heart

So I put aside the rest

Like all those I love

I give to you my best.

GRAZIE!

Thanks for all the good times:

Solving crossword puzzles

Summers at the Jersey shore

Relaxing at home

You and me, nothing more

In wooden chairs at Wave Hill

Greeting the Spring and Fall

Long car rides in the country

Savoring it all

Cooking tasty meals

Guests once in awhile

Witty talk, hearty wine

Simplicity with style.

Thanks for all the good times

Each day we chose to share

Together we both did fine

Have you had a good life dear?

Hope yours was as sweet as mine!

PARTING

Parting to me

Is like a flame growing dim

A little bit of life

Is taken from him

Who loves.

Parting can be

Both beautiful and sad

The joy,

Is in the hope of reunion

The sadness,

Is the agony

Of a taste of death.

LADY OF LIBERTY

Her eyes give tired men hope

Her lips desire

Her outstretched arm a beacon

To summon the weary traveler home

The crown upon her head

A radiant star

Pointing toward the heavens

Portends where our destiny lies

Oh Lady of Liberty

Forever dwell

In the hearts of free men

And in those

Yearning to be free.

MANHATTAN

Towers of iron

That torch the sky

Islands in rivers

Which bridges span

Manhattan!

Where hope is born

Destroyed, and regained.

Soul of cement

Heart of steel

Betrayer of dreams

That tomorrow reveal

Manhattan!

I’ve seen your wanton ways

Felt your tyranny

What carries you through?

Creative determination!

Indomitable,

Manhattan.

WHAT A BAND!

The Xavier Blue Night Jazz Band has come to Mexico City

For twenty years they’ve played so grand every tune has been a ditty.

Senor Salvador’s land of birth shines beneath the mid-day sun

He gives the students all they’re worth in knowledge and education.

The Gran Hotel is where we stay located on the plaza

The second largest so they say, only Red Square has more terrazzo.

Viernes:

First morning the bus rolls at ten, the Trauma Hospital we play

Veronica hosts us and then a quick lunch is on its way.

Damas, hombes, in attendance, they fill the auditorium

Doctors, nurses and assistants, everyone is having fun.

Mr. Neuhoff teaches percussion, setting the group in perfect time

Mrs.