On Second Thought

by

Maurice Kenny

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I never wanted to live in Brooklyn
with the ghosts of Crane, Wolfe and Mailer.
I never wanted to live in Brooklyn
after all your pleadings.
I hate crossing bridges
and wondering if I've crossed the right one;
or if I looked back I'd find
it consumed by the river.

I moved to Brooklyn
when you moved to Chicago;
and I've been enjoying the view
and the walk across the bridge
even if I can't spot Redhook
or hit a boat below with spit,
or catch a star.
I've never wanted to live in Brooklyn,
but I've been enjoying the ghosts
of Crane, Wolfe and Mailer.

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© 1988 Maurice Kenny
From Humors and/or Not So Humorous and reprinted in On Second Thought, University of Oklahoma Press.

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