Amanda Deutch
you are in the center with both eyes closed. rexall drugs. luncheonette. trolley pole. black and white life. scalloped edges. snow fills the bottom half of the photograph. little you wears a plaid winter coat. enormous pants stuffed messily into your boots. there is a kerchief of sorts not a hood or hat but a scarf around your head. in your right hand you hold a shovel almost half your height. you are shoveling snow on surf avenue in coney island in front of your apartment building. a little girl shoveling snow in the city. ben’s pharmacy is to your right and just across the street behind you is sasha’s luncheonette. three silhouettes gather in front of sasha’s as they did in those days and as they do in these. off in the distance is the parachute jump. past the ram’s head street lamps. past 29th street. past steeplechase park. out of sight is the beach and the atlantic ocean. but you have your eyes closed, a shovel and a sidewalk to clear.
