Measured Miles
More Thought Than Poetry
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
CITY BOY
Out of the basements where overhead pipes
Shadowed half the room,
I climbed to rooftops made of tar.
I counted antennae and counted ropes where clothing hung
Like neighbor portraits.
As far as a city eye could see I counted rooftops.
Sometimes I would stand there in the rain
And I could hear wet pavement drown the motor of a moving truck.
I would look over the edge and I could see yesterday’s headlines
Stuck on a tire.
I could see the rain wash clean my name that was etched on the sidewalk.
I could almost smell the fur of a passing dog.
I could see uptown.
There were no shadows in the rain.
And I knew one day I would make it out.
With bleeding hands and knees I’d make it out.
But always they would find my prints on shadowed basement floors
And all those rooftop doors.
CEMENT FLOWER
Learned Power
Watching a flower rip though concrete in the Bronx.
Saw grass come up between the cracks.
Uncultivated, unnourished, but grew against all odds.
Learned perseverance from a cement garden.
Watched a flower defy the crowd, and they sidestepped
Rather than kill a miracle.
Grass sliced the wind like a two edged sword.
Learned power and watched it create.
True power never destroys anything.
Cement garden drew all the attention,
Even away from the skyscrapers.
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Book Details
About the Book
The author states, "This book, as the title implies, is more than poetry. It is autobiographical, philosophical, spiritual, and most of all, true. I write in order to share, not so much with the critics, but with the rest of us." He believes that each day is an adventure. The good and bad times, moment to moment, produce that exquisite thing, that eternal thing, called experience. Comments by readers: "Each page has a life of its own." "I keep this book on my nightstand." "Honest, refreshing." "It is as though someone was standing there, giving my own thoughts back to me."
About the Author
Robert "Bob" Webster was born in New York City. He shined shoes on street corners in the Bronx at the age of 10, delivered groceries and worked in stores at the age of 12. He also worked as a laborer, factory worker, short order cook, and New York City playground director. He was a monk for nine years. Also he worked as a bartender, salesman, vocational counselor, and social worker. Besides living in New York, he also has lived in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Indiana, California, and Virginia.