20160205 (neighbors)

The Guernsey Apartments--and not a very good picture--this is before two years of renovation gave it an enviable appeal.

Now that I sleep in an upstairs

Room (because that’s where all

The heat goes) I get several

Chances through the night to 

Peer over east to the once 

Ghostly uninhabited Guernsey

Apartments to see what lights are

On. Regularly enough the only

Lights are for the stairways

Which rise from the entrance

Doors. Because of a house in

Between us I can’t see the

Lower units which may be on.

Very comforting though to

Know they are now occupied

By mostly young people, some

With dogs. Likely they all have

Jobs, unlike the previous residents,

Immigrants from the Pacific rim,

Lodged there cheaply by charities

Seeking to re-situate them in jobs,

Houses, and communities where

They’d a better chance to succeed.

Prior to them were squatters and

Drug dealers. I had an encounter

With two of them one night about

Which you can read elsewhere.*

As they were completing the units

I saw people moving in and once

Spoke with the leasing agent. I

Asked the young lady if she was

Having any difficulty getting 

Renters as the Guernsey offered

Neither elevators (four floors)

Nor indoor parking (in a location

Already plagued with a shortage

Available street spaces). She said

No. The place was already almost

Completely signed up. People were

Only waiting on the units to be

Completed to move in. As I walked 

Past it twice on each late walk

With Loki I tried to see in. TV

And modern fluorescent blue

Dominated. Nowhere was the

Congenial yellowish warmth of

Incandescent bulbs that made

Older homes so inviting. I loved

Imagining what activities were

Transpiring—youngsters at the

Dining room table doing homework,

Dads and moms watching sitcoms,

Older kids in the basement

Playing ping-pong. Nothing like

That here—a few computer screens

Backed up to the bay windows.

I thought if I ever saw some chick

Near her window with only the 

Screen between us I’d take the

Chance of yelling upwards, “But

Soft, what light through yonder 

Window breaks? It is the east

And fair Juliet is the sun,” just

To see what kind of response

I might get, if any—either the

Occupant or the Cleveland Police.

So far (and it’s only been since

the summer) I’ve not met any of

Them, though I should carry some

Cards if a meeting ever gets to a

Conversation. I think it would

Be very interesting to have young

Friends, kind of just starting out,

Who might welcome an ear for

Wisdom one evening. That’d

Be much better than being

Apprehended as a stalker.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016

*Saturday, February 22, 2014, TWT&NB