Back and Forth
Mary Winters
New York City park: family named it
“Sand and Swing”. Memories: baby Son
incandescent with joy, swing’s path
sparks in an arc; at age ten, Mom
cracks “Let’s call in a crane,” him
stuck in black rubber bucket, swing’s
leg holes crammed with his thighs.
Glare off a skyscraper triples the
light; Hell is over-exposure, a
homeless man yells -- pens a warning
on wall around sand box. View to
bouncing river across ten lanes of
traffic: boats’ detail stops a
squabble. Needles near slide belie
benign use; Tudor City hovers nearby.