Speonk - So Close and Yet So Far

Author's boyhood home in the hamlet of Speonk

His father had little money,

and was given to alcohol.

Homes from hamlet to hamlet,

he bought, then lost them all.

The painfully aware youngster,

who now had grown so tall,

wished he’d been a deaf, dumb, blind, kid,

because he hated playing pin ball.

-------- o --------

Welcome, bright, handsome, child,

to your umptieth umpteenth home.

May you find rest, take root, and grow,

 and may no longer have to roam.

Welcome to this quaint little hamlet,

  a stone’s throw from wealth and fame:

the playground of the Great Gatsby,

the Hamptons, one and the same!

Welcome to the serfdom of Speonk

butted against the high, castle walls,

close enough to observe the royals,

not enough to attend their balls.