Hello

I was walking down the street &
(I was walking my dog &
the sidewalk was empty but there were
cars parked tight on the street
& occasionally a car would pass going
thirty or forty which I thought was fast
for such a small street such a quiet neighborhood
where the sidewalks were uneven with
the stones jutting up high so I had
to watch my step & there didn’t
seem to be a direction home because
I think I was lost and I didn’t
recognize the housefronts and the windows
were all shuttered-up so I couldn’t see
if there was someone I could ask)
I think I ran right into myself under
a tree & I was standing there not raising
my head or looking at myself or even
my dog even though he was peeing on
the tree. When he was done I left myself
and retraced my steps back & above
the yelling of Bob Dylan about being
tangled up in blue in my ears I heard my
phone ringing & I answered & my mom
asked me when are you coming home &
I said I am lost mommy please help me I
don’t know these streets & I don’t see any
cars or people & the dog is getting tired &
she said that she would get in the car to
come pick me up & I shouldn’t move but
just sit down on a stoop on the corner where
I was & I waited for her a very long time
because I think she got lost too & finally
a tall man came out of the house & he told me you can’t
sit there anymore & I said please & explained
& please I haven’t
seen my mom in a long time & he
looked at me in my eyes & my dirty dog
& he said that he missed his mom too &
I could stay. We talked & he told me that
before college he worked in a car shop in the Bronx
& went to Yankees games a lot & he said
I went to college when I was twenty
five because it took me so long to save up money
because I loved the Yankees so much. I told him
I didn’t want to go back to school sometimes &
he said I never missed a day but you
really should get a college degree because
it gets a lot of use in your long days and short nights.
& then my mom drove by
but I was sitting in the other seat the passenger seat &
I looked at myself again & I didn’t know what happened
but then she came around the block & picked me up
& she drove my dog & me & me home. I waved
goodbye to the stoop & the stoop & he said
come back anytime & we’ll watch the Yankees
& the car carried me away
& my dog barked & my mom said
Hello.

—EWW