Freylinghausen April

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forever flower

On the flowering tree Rosie sees out her window

There’s one white flower that remains in bloom

All summer, year after year, such a phenomenon.

This is part of Rosie’s nature report from her Brooklyn apartment.

Rosie is very much animated and interested in everything.

She is a phenomenon herself at 93.  She is that forever flower to us.

We are visiting with Rosie in the springtime, remembering people

As we talk about the present and look forward to the future.

Enjoying Rosie calling forth names we have forgotten

Full of kind words for so many in her life

Giving us the benefit of her wisdom

Being like a much loved mother to us.

Milt is there with us, too, smiling, talking

Explaining about memory by association.

You can hear the love between Rosie and Milt

The way they speak so sweetly to each other.

In my imagination I take photographs to catch their expressions

Looking at them looking at us, happy for the visit

Taking in their approval of who we are

Feeling this moment as timeless.

spring sprung NYBG

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stealing time

I do not talk to the UPS driver who comes to my door.

I learned not to try to engage with him

When my friendly comments and questions were rebuffed

With mono syllable avoidance responses.

I myself was a UPS delivery driver for 18 years.

I know what it’s like making 120 stops a day

Day after day in the rain and cold and broiling heat

Contending with customers and deadlines.

This guy is so obviously unhappy but more than that

He is afraid.  I can tell he’s been threatened by his boss.

I know about those escalating warnings that demand

Faster work pace, more deliveries, more pickups.

I used to work out of a main hub in New York City.

There were so many drivers and trucks departing every morning

Heading out with packages going to every address in Manhattan

Arriving back in the evening loaded with afternoon pickups.

Doing the arithmetic I realized I handled a million packages.

The trailer truck docks were on the second floor

The delivery trucks loaded and unloaded on the fourth floor

Driving down a spiral ramp to get to the street.

This was an industrial facility something to behold.

High speed conveyor belts and chutes branching out

Distributing packages by zip codes and streets

Trucks back to back against the belt for a square block.

But it was the workers who made it all work

Starting at 8:30 AM and returning at 6:30 PM or later

Figuring out each day how to get enough room opened up

To have space to fit the pickups in the afternoon.

Then going back on residential deliveries later.

I knew just about everyone on my route

Traversing 4 avenues and 7 streets

The shopkeepers and the families in the neighborhood.

We drivers worked alone but we stuck together.

We had a union and we did our best to push back

But that’s a big company that always wants more.

How well I remember the take backs and more take backs.

I know what frightens my driver.

You can be fired outright for stealing

And if you stop to talk with a customer

The bosses call that stealing time.

I had almost forgotten those words

Since I left that job 24 years ago.

Then the news surfaced about a job action

With 250 workers fired by UPS.

They walked off the job protesting a firing:

A union activist charged with stealing time.

My old local 804, the Maspeth Queens hub

They dared to risk their jobs to show solidarity.

It’s good to see the fight back.

It’s good to see the local union back them up.

It’s very good to see them win their jobs back

And feel the power of the many win this day.