Back to Issue 5

Memories of Greenwich Village IV by Michael Frey

we said goodbye and you left.
I sat at the desk chair you bought me
And drank half a bottle of whiskey.
I dried my eyes and got dressed.
I walked past the doorman who said hello.
He probably said hello to you when you left.
In the street, dirty cabs drove by
and delivery trucks somehow continued to deliver.

The Shy Ones by Michael Frey

The shy ones are the smartest of people.
Not like those that make a lot of noise.
Not like the talkers.

Most of the shy ones aren't really shy.
They just hide themselves longer.
But eventually, you can see them.
Sometimes only after you have slept with them or worked with them for years.

Often, the shy ones become the most outspoken and demanding.
And finally, you must bow to their wishes and whims or loss them.

The shy ones are just figuring you out first.
The shy ones are the clever ones.
They hold all the cards in the end.
But you have to stay until the end to see any of this.

For the most part,
To the outside world,
They are, the shy ones.

The shy ones change gradually.
Sometimes you would never believe you thought a person a shy one.
But you somehow did and don't understand or remember how come.

Sometimes the world sees a person as a shy one.
Everyone in the world except you.
This just means that you know that person the best (or perhaps the worst).

Sometimes the shy ones can yell at you the loudest.
Sometimes the shy ones can cheat the worst.
Sometimes the shy ones are the most evil.
Sometimes the shy ones have the most clever disguises.

When the disguise falls from the shy ones
You may see a whole new person.

And it may be too late.

Never believe the shy ones.

They are not really shy, inside.

Bio: Michael Frey is a doctor of medicine living in New York City.   He grew up on Long Island and graduated from Brandeis University.   He is also an associate professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx.   Most recently, his poems have been accepted/published in Folaite Oak (University of Arkansas), The Pink Cameleon, EG Parsons Poetry Online, Goddesschess Online, Chantarelle's Notebook and Ceremony Magazine.