SOMEONE ELSE’S 

Often

I’ll see a person

standing as still as they can

aiming their camera or 

their phone 

at something and

I’ll look to see what it is that

stopped them

in their tracks.

I can almost never tell

what it could be.

We’re all very different 

from

one another.

THIS MORNING UP THE WAY

Thirteen blocks

was all

I had to walk up

Third Avenue to the

Walgreens drug store

to finally get my

first shot from Pfizer

this morning.

I wore just a dark gray 

T-shirt under my

puffy orange jacket

to make it easier to get 

the needle in my shoulder.

It was cold on the walk there 

dressed that way

but I walked 

on the non-sunny side 

of the street

for some reason.

‘CHANGE YOUR LIFE TODAY. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay.’

                                    —Simone de Beauvoir

ON THE LAST DAY OF THIS YEAR’S BLACK HISTORY MONTH, here’s one. 90 writers write short pieces on history most of us don’t know the details of. The book starts with 1619. I’ve read the first 10. I know more now, in detail, grim detail. 

A book lover outside the Strand bookstore a couple says ago. 

I hope independent bookstores like Strand can hang on. If you don’t live near one, you can order online from Strand or most bookstores. It’s stimulating to go to a store. It’s a big deal for me to have Strand only a 10-15 minute walk from my apartment. But it also feels good to get a book in the mail from Three Lives my not-as-close favorite independent store. All such stores need you to buy your books from them. 

I would guess that kids who can read well have been reading during all this and have not fallen behind. WHY NOT TEACH EVERY SCHOOL KID TO READ WELL.