Together Downtown
Mom held my hand
along the streets
of Philadelphia
making our way
through the crowd
from Wanamaker’s
to The Automat for lunch.
She placed coins in my hand
allowing me
to unlock a glass cubbie
displaying my choice:
an egg salad sandwich,
slice of lemon meringue pie
Walking back to the train,
side-stepping metal grates
on the inner edge of the sidewalk
leading to basement areas
afraid if they gave way
I would tumble into a dark abyss.
My eyes turned from
unfortunate souls
disabled in some way
sitting beside buildings
with a bowl and a cardboard sign.
Mom took my hand
leading me along to Reading Terminal.
*
Lois Perch Villemaire is a poet from Annapolis, MD. She is the author of My Eight Greats, a family history in poetry and prose and a chapbook, Eyes at the Edge of the Woods. Her work has appeared in The Ekphrastic Review, Spillwords, Third Street Review, and elsewhere. Villemaire, a Pushcart nominee is a contributing writer to AARP-The Ethel. She enjoys art journaling, works at the library, and propagates African violets.
