We are a group from Beverly, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Boston. We write in several genres, about many topics -- and we love telling stories.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
East Boston, Back Then
East Boston, Back Then
by Liz Ciampa
Today I imagine him in an East Boston dance hall
Back in his prime, in the late 1940s, the early '50s,
Because it must have been where he learned
To waltz like that. To tango, swing, even to jitterbug,
But, mostly, to waltz to the big band --
Not to the digitally remastered recordings that
I listen to today. No. Instead, he hears the real thing, live:
The brass section. Those horns. The whinnying trumpet.
The onslaught of drums just before the singer --
Sinatra, Bennett, even a good baritone from the neighborhood --
Blessed with the velvet big band voice, takes over,
But just for a bit. The crooner gives the crowd a taste.
Then, ever the gentleman, he hands the night back to the band
While the piano proposes transition with light, thoughtful chords.
As the saxophone swells, the piano trills quietly in the background
And the other instruments take a step back,
The young man finds himself in the middle of "A Moonlight Serenade"
With a "Satin Doll" on his arm, and no matter what,
He and I -- though it is sixty years later for me, today, his
Eighty-second birthday -- realize, suddenly, that we are
"In a Sentimental Mood." I wasn't alive back then, but today, I can conjure him up:
The thick chestnut hair. The dark-brown eyes. The rhythm of his waltz.
The way he looks at his partner: she glows. He radiates honesty,
Strength and smarts and promise. A rare breed. Quite a man.
(Ciampa, Liz. "East Boston, Back Then." Wilderness House Literary Review. Cambridge, MA:
Spring, 2010. Volume 5, Number 1. Print and online.)
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And quite a moving tribute .....
ReplyDeleteThank you, Gail. He was awesome!
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