Outside Merriam Park Library, a rusty black
bike shares a lock with another well-worn bike
stowed in the metal rack. Both nose
their front wheels into the stanchion like
lowly animals. They lean together in shared
solidarity with all things closely paired:
Barrett and Browning on a book lover’s list.
Kissed lips. Two-by-two from an ark’s hold.
Autumn and leaves in their wedding of gold.
The words empty and nest, come and go,
and a man and a woman, long-married mates,
who slow-walk our block with shuffling gaits.
Margaret Hasse will be celebrating a banner year in 2013: her house on Lincoln Avenue will turn 100 years old. Other whole numbers that matter to Margaret: 1 husband, 2 sons (both Central High School graduates), 3 things she’ll never tell, 4 published collections of her poems, and 25 years of interesting work as an arts and education consultant.
Roberta Avidor is an illustrator who has made her way from New York City to Minneapolis and now, just recently, to Saint Paul. She and her husband Ken, who is also an illustrator, have found what they hope is their “Shangri-la” in Lowertown.