Miss Emmie Of The Harbor Poem by bob barci

There’s something about this day -
it has autumn written all over it.
I can’t bear to be inside any longer.
I grab my friend by his shirt collar -
we’ve got to get out walking - NOW.
We head downtown,
not really walking to anywhere particular.
It’s the kind of autumn day
that makes you think back to your childhood.
You focus on a memory
that keeps a huge smile on your face.
The kind of smile
that makes people wonder what you are up to.
Before we even realize it,
we are walking along the waters of Battery Park.
From where we now stand,
we can see The Good Lady.
We realize now
that there is something in the air,
something besides the autumn wind.
It makes us shiver with uneasiness and delight.
On second look,
The Lady appears to be waving at us,
beckoning us to come and visit her.
We sit quietly on the top deck of the ferry
intently listening to a woman’s voice speaking in verse.
Others carry on
as if they don’t hear.
How could they not?
Not hear the woman’s words of patriotism and the true meaning of America?
How could they not?
We stare at The Lady as we approach her.
There’s something different about her today.
She needs no torch
as her words light up the land.
The ferry seems still now
as it seems to float around The Lady from back to front.
From side view,
we hear gasps and shrieks.
Now directly in front,
all motion halts to a dead stop.
My jaw falls in awe.
The Lady tilts her head and reads
from her book of poetic justice.
I look up
and my eyes begin to water,
and I am heard to say
just barely above a whisper -
“My God.
It’s Miss Emmie,
Miss Emmie of the harbor.