Thief

November,  ever wicked thief,

you came last night and slashed each leaf,

leaving limbs like bones sucked dry

by starving strays afraid to die.

November, year’s-end bitter tramp,

who robins’ warblings would revamp

into your smirking whine of wind,

which takes till April to rescind.

You, dark thug, who slithers in,

cold as pond-scum, scrape my skin.

But one thing sure my meadow knows,

you could not claim her last white rose!

We walk you to the world.

We’ve hoofed it around Amityville, Babylon, Cold Spring Harbor, Huntington, Northport, and Port Jefferson. Our next historic walking tour is in New York City’s Central Park. Among the places we will explore are the Swedish pavilion, the Shakespeare Garden, Belvedere Castle, Bethesda Terrace, and the Ramble. You might want to bring binoculars; one recent year saw more than 270 bird species, and October is prime birdwatching time.

Homework (or, walkwork) — Who is King Jagjiello, and why is his statue in Central Park?

Walkable Talks: Babbling on in Babylon

Our next walking tour takes us to the South Shore and the village of Babylon. There is only one Babylon in the U.S., and it is on Long Island. Even many of Babylon’s residents do not know some of the following Babylon facts:

America’s first all-Black professional baseball team, the Cuban Giants, was born in Babylon

Babylon resident Robert Moses is considered America’s greatest builder

Babylon’s spectacular Byzantine St. Joseph’s R.C. church consists of 1.5 million bricks

Deer Park Avenue resulted from the foot steps of pioneers coming down from the North Shore in search of salt hay for their cattle