That year the leaves fell in the summer
Rosie’s bait shop sold blood and sand worms,
LILCO kept the lights on at the Paddy Wagon
and the boardwalk became a memorial stage
for a dead punk rockers dedication.

Music rose from the planks.
That year the leaves fell in the summer.
The concrete corner shop sold broken blood vessels,
and the A train stalled the boardwalk
becoming a playground for teenage lovers.

Smoke billowed between the train cars.
The bodega sold bloodroot and papers.
That year the leaves fell in the summer.
While the hotel ruins at the boardwalk
changed little girls into mothers.

Laughter echoed from its broken windows.
The corner store sold bloody Mary mix and 50 Cent Colt 45’s.
In the bathroom at the boardwalk,
that year, the leaves fell in the summer
and decorated the stalls as cigar lounges, for the nowhere generation.

Vision was lost that year.
Sam sold bloodbaths to unexpected brunette customers
who sunbathed in front seats at dusk,
and waited for the fall to spring –
into winter – to end that year when the leaves fell in the summer.

Paula Curci is the Poet Laureate of Nassau County (NY) 2022 – 2024. Curci is the host and producer of Calliope’s Corner: The Place Where Poets and Songwriters Meet and What’s The Buzz™ .  Curci is also the Poet In Residence at WRHU 88.7 FM & WRHU.ORG Radio Hofstra University.  She is a retired school counselor and the co-founder of  the Acoustic Poets Network™. Curci has received awards from the Press Club of Long Island and has been awarded a national Gracie for her on air broadcasts.