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lyrics

Feasting in America

I don’t remember what I ate that day.
The deli floor was bowed as if
the indecisive shifting of shoes
had settled it into a tired smile
smoothed by feet
and friction.

I don’t remember what I ate.
Perhaps lasagna,
I do remember pepperoncinis
on a wonderful salad.
We were moving Dad
from a temporary nursing home

in North Miami
to a nicer place
closer to Mom.
His raving racist roommate,
stung the Black orderly
with a bitterness exclusive

to the beaten and senile.
Dad, silent and staring,
intently chewing his lower lip,
had not been attended to
when we arrived
that muggy Sunday afternoon.

Many of his clothes were
missing, like his front teeth,
knocked out when they revived him
from the near drowning.
I think he knew me
as his son.

He walked with the slow shuffle
of Parkinson’s decay, his back
round as a snail’s shell,
bent as if leaning over
an imaginary cane.
It was an authentic Italian deli

worn but not changed
through the years, holding on
as the neighborhood morphed
from Italian to Jewish to Black to Cuban to Haitian,
always heavy with the smell of garlic,
an olfactory landmark in a world of ethnic flux.

Our talk was of fresh, steaming bread,
and how Dad always said
you can tell a good restaurant by the salad.
I remember walking along fogged glass cases
filled with waves of lasagna and piles of hot sausage,
sturdy blue bowls of pasta, white and red sauces,

but all I remember eating was salad.

credits

from Into Light: The Poems of M. D. Friedman, released January 1, 2024

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Mad Dog Friedman | Mad Dog Blues | Peddlers of Joy image

Mad Dog Friedman | Mad Dog Blues | Peddlers of Joy Lafayette, Colorado

Mad Dog writes from the moment and sings from his heart. His influences include sources as divergent as William Butler Yeats & the delta blues. His songwriting is sincere, simple & often humorous. He has recorded many solo & collaborative projects featuring his spontaneous compositions on harmonica, Native American flute & Theremin. He is also the founder of Mad Dog Blues & The Astral Project. ... more

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