mystical rivers

i did a bit of porch sitting today...saw buck-toothed women speaking nothing but italian...saw a dog with bad hind legs chained to the leg of a deep-voiced, cigarette-ed, woman...man there are strange people all over this world...they are in every nook, every cranny...i wonder how anyone makes anything, how anything gets done with all these weirdos lurking around every corner...but then i sat on the porch and remembered how i took the ferryman's boat to the island...there i sat and listened to the music of the wandering minstrel...i saw the clouds cover the sun, and then felt the shade that the trees provided...and i remembered what this life was...the new york harbor...sailboats soaking in the sun...