I’ve been sleeping
lately
looking for a dream
the place
familiar
my dog there
and my father
though neither knew
the other
both having lived
decades apart
my mother is cooking
I can smell her sauce
simmering
my grandmother
is kneading dough
for her cavatelli
Johnny and I
both get a piece
to roll
in our hands
before eating
my father stands
holding the dog’s leash
and before their walk
he pats my mother
on the ass
and says
that’s why
I married her
she giggles
like she always does
at that joke
and though it should be
Charlie
taking the dog out
it is my father
his white shirt sleeves
rolled up
my grandmother sings
some Neapolitan song
Harry is there
laughing
George Robert
my sister Theresa
is coming
later
with the kids
a holiday
maybe
or just Sunday dinner
at two o’clock
Uncle Mike
from New Jersey
is there
my cousin Carolyn
Aunt Mary too
and Uncle Frank
watching Westerns
on TV
though he was dead
long before
Uncle Joe
with his cigar
in mouth
is dealing cards
Aunt Bernie Cousin Betty
are setting the table
Uncle Dominic
is mixing gin rickeys
Charlie is reading
The New York Times
on the back porch
my Grandfather
picking tomatoes
in the backyard
and suddenly
all the people
I’ve loved
are in one place
one house
on Lyon Place
and we will sing
my mother will dance
to Lou Monte
Calypso Italiano
George will know
all the words
and everyone
will laugh
the whole day
long
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Leonard Durso 
I love the way you have gathered all their personalities here…
Thanks. This is my idea of heaven.
mine too…
Old home, family memories, are you ready to leave them all behind?
They are never behind, John, for we carry those memories in our hearts.
Beautiful ….
Thanks, Fernando.
Love it! You conjure such a great image and breathe life into it with your words.
Thank you. That’s very kind of you to say.
I love it.
You make it universal.
I can relate it to my mom’s house in my home land which I visit from time to time in my dreams.
I can relate it to my home here in my adopted homeland where with God’s help I’ll make more good memories together with my two boys and my oldest child Fernando.
These kind of memories are the fuel in my struggle to maintain our home in time of adversity.
I wish your new home provides you with similar warm memories and that those of us who are grateful for all your good deeds can come and visit you more frequently and let you know how you have become part of our extended family.
Take good care.
Thank you, Jenny. I’m glad you could relate to this and am very touched by your words. I have always known you appreciated me and you and Fernando, your sons now, too, along with a few others from those ELI days (and I’m sure you know who they are), will always occupy a very special place in my heart.
Yeah. I love this one, Leonard. Dreams like this are gifts, and a kind of proof, too.
Thank you, Jeff. That they are, they surely are.
Reblogged this on Leonard Durso and commented:
because I am, again
A gathering of hearts and stories. Well done.
Thank you, Jim.
This post called to mind a dream I had last night that actually starred a cast of my loved ones who have died (some more recently than others). It made me miss them all as much I missed them before and after I woke up this morning. It was a happy, haunting dream. It’s weird getting to a time in life when many of the people I love the most are no longer accessible. Now I understand the look on my dad’s face when he would reminisce about his family – that far away, dreamy and distinctly sad smile that would shadow his face as – Italian music playing in the background, old pictures littering the table at which we sat, wine glasses mostly empty – his voice brought those folks back into the room with us.
Thanks for the post. It was beautiful!
Thank you for this beautiful response.
This is so happy. It made me smile
Glad I could do that.
So heartwarming:-) what a wonderful picture you paint with your words. I feel as if I am there!
Thank you for this kind comment.
Sounds like heaven.
It was, or will be, for me.
A loving family is heaven….at least to me it is! Lovely, visceral, description of them and your home…I feel like I know them. Thanks for sharing the love…
Thank you for this kind comment.
I imagined a home during thanksgiving or Christmas day… Thanks for coming up with this, it brought a lot of memories! 🙂
I am glad my memories brought back memories for you.
Warm and beautiful. This reminds me of my grandfather’s visions before his death, the overlapping of everyone he loved, waiting for him, and music playing. Thanks for the great memories.
As we get older, the past becomes clearer as the future begins to fade.
This was so vivid and so loving. It reminded me of my hometown. You have such wonderful memories. Thank you for sharing them.
CC
Thanks, CC. These dreams come almost nightly now which says something about where my mind goes.
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Beautiful Leonard. You have captured heaven for all of us. Thank you for sharing, ☺☺
Thank you, Patricia.