Philadelphia

All Poems, Food, Friendship, Philadelphia, Trips and Places

Dim Sum Sunday

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Dim Sum eateries in Chinatown fill up on Sundays.

Even in teeming rain.

But, we snagged a round table for four.

At Ocean Harbor on Race.

With plenty of room for little plates.

Fried tofu squares, shrimp dumplings.

Noodles, battered whole shrimp, squid.

Tasters landed.

We tried.

Sitting opposite oldest friends.

From babyhood.

All our parents gone.

Ourselves parents of children who’ve borne children.

Filling mouths with food.

Heads with news.

Childhood neighbor passed away.

Friends’ son’s injury healed.

How do Caribbean Islands compare to Hawaiian?

Who’s traveling where?

When?

Pattering for at least two hours.

Wishing we could try more, stay.

But if we did, tried every tray,

we’d all fear what the scale would say.

So, instead, we went on our way.

Umbrellas up, into the gray.

Satisfying dim sum day!

 

Lynn Benjamin

May 10, 2023

All Poems, Family, In-laws, Philadelphia, Thank-You, Trips and Places

La Bohème, To Ethel

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I am certain, Ethel, you were with us.

In that empty seat on the aisle.

Listening to, watching La Bohème.

For you adored opera.

Encouraged us, maybe coerced us, to go.

Many years ago.

When work and children were obstacles.

To see Turandot in New York.

You persisted.

Bought tickets.

Derived pleasure from our attendance.

Perhaps, then, more than we.

Though we appreciated the opportunity.

But, this time, we chose to go.

To the Academy of Music.

Orchestra, dialogue, stagecraft.

Colorful chorus scenes, passion.

Director Yuval Sharon’s inverted version.

Last scene, first.

First, last.

Turning it into a psychological study.

What choices did protagonists make?

That led them to their fates?

Ethel, you might have preferred the original.

Fancy staging and intermission.

But you’d be pleased we wanted to go.

Your desire come to fruition!

 

Lynn Benjamin

May 9, 2023

All Poems, Philadelphia, Trips and Places

Reclaiming Philadelphia

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I feel like we’re reclaiming Philadelphia, said Bob.

As we walked from 2nd Street to Chinatown.

After a production of August Wilson’s Radio Golf.

At the Arden, Philadelphia theater landmark.

In the past week, we took grandkids to the Franklin Institute.

Please Touch Museum.

And today, we made it to see a play.

About a mayoral election.

Just before primaries in Philadelphia.

Coincidence or aptly timed?

A work that questioned values, ethics.

Asked who was willing to make a pact with the devil?

For personal aggrandizement?

To make more money?

To blend in with the majority?

Two acts, richer than cream.

Needing days to fully digest.

Maybe weeks.

Till the next jaunt to town

to reclaim a little more

at the Academy of Music

where La Bohème is on tour.

 

Lynn Benjamin

April 26, 2023

All Poems, Museums, Philadelphia, Thank-You, Trips and Places

Franklin Institute

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I have visited the Franklin Institute since childhood.

Though I can’t say for sure the first time I went.

School trip?

Family jaunt?

I don’t remember.

What I do know is that it’s always been there for me.

For my parents, as well.

Since it was founded in 1824.

Situated at Independence Hall.

Moved in 1954 to its present site.

At 20th and the Parkway.

Expanding ever since.

A place to take my children.

Theirs, on trips to Philadelphia.

Iconic science museum.

Named after Benjamin Franklin.

Experimenter, inventor, printer, statesman.

Born in Boston, claimed by Philadelphia.

Known far and wide, his likeness on a one-hundred-dollar bill.

Lover of experimentation and innovation.

Example for the museum named for him.

I’ve roamed exhibition halls countless times.

Yesterday, the first, with three grandchildren from LA.

One from Manhattan.

Watched them scamper through the heart.

Climb neural networks.

Turn gear boxes.

Bound onto a locomotive.

Fly on a plane.

Manipulate electricity.

I think my thanks to Franklin

and the founders of this place

are overdue, inadequate

for such a knowledge space.

Please accept my gratitude

for scientific inspiration.

Almost two centuries leading

generation after generation.

 

Lynn Benjamin

April 23, 2023

   

 

All Poems, Children, Museums, Philadelphia, Trips and Places

Please Touch Museum

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The Please Touch Museum opened in Philadelphia.

In 1976, the year my second child was born.

But, I never took my children.

It was small, and we, busy.

Living in the suburbs.

It wasn’t till later we got there.

With our first crop of grandkids.

After the museum moved to Memorial Hall.

In Fairmount Park.

Memories of fun stuck with us.

So, we purchased tickets for Dan’s little ones.

Along with their cousin, Elias.

To spend four hours touching

vehicles, pretend groceries, blocks.

Riding on a carousel.

Preparing photo strips in a box!

 

Lynn Benjamin

April 22, 2023

 

All Poems, Pandemic, Philadelphia, Trips and Places

The Train from Jenkintown Station

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I hear this train all the time.

I’m glad we finally used it, said Bob.

On one of the last days in March.

When we caught a Septa train to Philadelphia.

From Jenkintown station.

To go to the Academy of Music.

See a matinee of Six.

Glitzy chick flick musical.

Strobe lights, song and dance.

Followed by lunch.

At an old favorite.

Vietnam at 11th and Spring.

We know these places.

From years of traipsing streets in town.

Heck, both born here!

Reared here!

How did the connection snap?

Covid, of course.

No trains.

No theaters.

No eateries.

But today we hopped on the track.

Plastic cards, fare free.

Parking also nothing cost.

To and from Philly.

 

Lynn Benjamin

March 31, 2023

 

All Poems, Family, Food, For Children, Grandchildren, Humor, Philadelphia, Stories

Shane Confectionery

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Have you ever heard of Shane’s?

The candy store at 110 Market Street?

Close to the river in Philadelphia?

My children met Shane’s through their grandfather Manny.

Who owned an electrical shop nearby.

Stopped regularly at Shane’s to buy chocolates.

Bring them to grandchildren when they were small.

So, Shane’s became a familiar name.

Always linked to their grandpop.

And a must-visit site on any pilgrimage to the city.

Like the foray yesterday to the Arden.

For a 4 pm matinee.

Which from the train is a nine block walk.

Past historic sites like the Liberty Bell.

Ben Franklin’s original house.

The Constitution Center.

Just go a little past 2nd Street.

There’s Shane’s.

Continuously in business for 150 years.

Restored to resemble the shop in 1911.

Selling house-made candies.

Importing beans from Central and South American farms.

Buying from local dairies.

Using organic eggs and sugar.

Honey from rooftop beehives.

Preparing hot cocoa drinks in the rear.

Perfect for freezing winter days.

So, we all queued up.

But six were too many cups to make before the show started.

We left, vowing to return after the curtain fell.

Ninety minutes later, we were back.

Making the order.

Gripping and sipping cocoa.

All the way to Jefferson Station.

Perked up and ready to wait for dinner.

Where talk focused on delights of Shane’s.

Conversation was lively, bold.

Three young Gen Z’ers

actually extolled the old!

 

Lynn Benjamin

December 29, 2022