Yonkers

Except for being unable to tell her right from her left
Mom had an excellent sense of direction
So she would drive and Dad would navigate
His eyes buried in the atlas across his knees
Saying things like
"Take the next left onto 194th Street"
And Mom would say
"Yes dear"
And then pull a u-turn across four lanes
Of Riverside Drive

As a native New Yorker
The city was Mom's special domain
In her mind was a perfectly detailed image
Of every aspect of her girlhood
A spy satellite map
Circa 1963

So there was always room to park
In the alley behind the florist's
That the florist was long gone
Didn't faze her in the least
(And in all those years of parking there
We never did get a ticket)

Aunt Mary is long dead
And the house is long sold
And the Irish shops have all turned into
Hispanic bodegas
But I always know when I've reached my destination
Even if I'm not precisely sure of exactly how we got here
And there's always an empty space for us to park
In that alley behind the florist's
Circa 1963