Home

Home

 

 

there is a lifeless plain

miles from a bustling city

a New York inheritance

moved to a safety deposit box

in a rural small town

 

subsequent hill or two

a rise in stock

an aging veteran 

of sustenance wars

I love being an heir

 

but I miss those

who drew me into the fold

of all those dollar bills

that could never replace

the love that drove the car

 

from the pageantry

of skyscrapers

lunatic sidewalks

concrete smiles

and landlords of birth.

 

 

erin-cilberto

5/17/2021

Reviews

[Pete]

for good or bad home is where the heart is and makes that first lasting impression. it is interesting to me how strange it feels when returning to my roots. it can be like time stood still but i am also drawn to the changed landscape of things. memories are timeless and need no new development. a very precious stroll back to the past - we hold onto the certificate of deposit or passbook ... :)

[jacob erin-cilberto]

maybe we can save the memories in a CD...
I find it strange when I go back to the town I lived in when I was in grade school and high school...it is home but it isn't....where I am now I have been for 53 years....like you said, Pete...home is where the heart is...and it is here in Southern Illinois for me....second home is Vermont and my childhood memories....thank you for your words,
j.

[Weeping willow]

It amazes me how far one may travel through life, yet we always remember home and where we grew up becoming more special as the years go by in our lives. Wonderful write ;-]

[jacob erin-cilberto]

It just amazes me that 70 years later our old apartment building on Sedgwick Avenue still stands five stories high and proud.
thank you, Willow.
j.

[Betty Hermelee]

"Home is where the heart is"..... Where your roots are, no matter how long you are away from it. I was born and bread in Manhattan and only travel back to see family, but this is HOME!!! with all the negative things about it, it's still home. So, I see in your poem that you miss those skyscrapers, noise, excitement, grit, glamour.....and life in St. Elsewhere is rather boring, quiet, hum drum and not fulfilling. My brother lived in the suburbs of the City for years and then retired right in the middle of Manhattan! sort of did things backwards!!!
Nice!
Best, B

[jacob erin-cilberto]

that is so true...I miss people....but not the city, Bronx is my roots...but I love peace of the country...
a visit I would like, but no more than that.
I spent too much time on the farms during summers in Vermont when I was little....loved pastures, Cows...etc. The pic on my avatar is from that time...we also went there on Columbus Day weekend to enjoy the fall colors.

[Betty Hermelee]

Me too!!! And now I have 4 grandchildren living in Manhattan!!!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

we had such a small family....I have one cousin who lives in Belleville , NJ....that is it...

no longer any relatives in NY unless my mother's half-sister Lucille is still alive...but I don't think so.
but roots are roots are roots, right?
thank you, Betty...
j.

[Paul Bell]

I suppose it doesn't matter where you end up, your roots are your roots, good or bad. I recall Billy Connelly being asked what it was like being brought up in a slum area of Glasgow. He remarked the slum was a proper community where people looked after each other and made him the person he is today.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I remember him saying that as well...love Billy....
such a funny man.
thank you for your words, Paul.
j.

[Dave]

Funny how far we travel, all the wondrous sights we've seen, yet home. Home rings with such resonance in our memory. To be able to look back at my childhood home and belatedly remember all the joys I had. The friends that I now miss, because we're all "grown-up". Thank you Jacob.
Take care - Dave

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind review, Dave, yes, all grown-up.
j.

[Marina]

I think those trees in Brooklyn are still rustling your name, Jacob. No matter where the wind carries us there is always one place that truly feels like home. It is something I have experienced for myself. Just a sense of never quite belonging in other places I have lived in. That is where your poem took me today. Lovely lines and intimate descriptions as always. 💛

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I am glad you could travel back through the poem, Marina...thank you for that....yes, the Bronx seems so far back in time now, and yet feels like yesterday I was there in our apartment...on Sedgwick Avenue.
j.

[Unspoken poet]

lunatic sidewalks
concrete smiles
and landlords of birth.

Awesome lines here, you paint a wonderful imagery with your words.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Unspoken...
j.

[Sherri Moshman Paganos]

Nice details, Jacob, contrasting one life with another ("lunatic sidewalks and concrete smiles" with the "safety deposit box" and "lifeless plain") The narrator, "aging veteran of sustenance wars" is living in one home but longing for a past one, but not excessively so. I can definitely relate. Well done...
S.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your very kind review, Sherri,
j.

[Chris Shaw]

I was born in London. A city girl by birth but moved to the suburbs and now live near leafy lanes and farmers fields. I have not forgotten the bustle, the noise and the vitality of all I used to know, but peaceful living is a better suit. Totally related to this poem and feel comfortable with what I know now as home.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

we are so similar in that respect, eh Chris?
I know you relate, precisely.
thank you,
j.

[Chris Shaw]

Absolutely.