20160625 (good neighborhoods)

I will be sad to leave Ohio City

Where nowadays we can walk

In the early night without fear

Of being assaulted as I was at

The gate of my own home by

Two thugs at midnight close to

Ten years ago. Today I’m glad

The face-bashing did not scare

Me away. Dinah, my ex, thought

It best to leave the area at once,

Take our loss, and head for the 

Imagined safety of the suburbs.

In the divorce, we sold the 

House we’d tried living in 

Together. She moved on, and

I kept the wreck on Franklin.

As the neighborhood improved

In safety I became more aware

Of the congeniality of the older

Neighbors who humanized what

Could very easily have become

An area on a real estate map of

Profitable construction and

Restoration—soulless, yuppified, 

Gentrified flipped properties. It’s

A place where today you can 

Strike a conversation with people

Walking past your home or out 

On a walk with your dog. You can

Greet strangers and they become

Strangers no more. They’re Arun

And Aya, who reacted to your 

Barking pup, the sentinel of

2908, guardian of the home, the

Fuzzball combo of Poodle and 

Schnauzer who, going east is

Known as a Schnoodle and going

West is known as a Poozner. I

Think it’s neighborly to greet them

And get to know they live nearby

And both work in medicine. I,

Plying my verbosity, probably 

Talked more and should have let

Them talk more about themselves.

Hopefully when I see them again

I will remember something close

To their names and will greet them

Pleasantly. If they cover their ears

With their hands and run away, I’ll

Know I overdid it. But I won’t stop.

I think neighborhoods are made

By people greeting those on their 

Porches as one walks by. It’s good

To ask a stranger, “Isn’t the weather

Just great/awful/too cold/too hot?”

I hope I’ve played a part in making 

This a desirable place to live by

Chatting with store clerks and 

Saying good morning to the mailman.

Part of what I preach is “We’re all

In the same boat, we may as well

Get to know each other.” And nine

Times out of ten the people you 

Meet are fascinating who contain 

Some wisdom we could all profit

By. The grumpy may stay grumpy

But a lot of them, once you open

The door, will relate their burdens,

Go away slightly more comforted.

The old buildings are charming,

Yes. The prices are improving, yes.

But what makes the neighborhood

So desirable is that you can feel 

You’re among friends, because

You are.

C. J.S.Manista, 2016