The Wall

I remember an air raid drill. I was walking with my mother on 20th Street in Brooklyn and we heard the loud siren.  My mother knew what to do. She guided me to a nearby wall, where we stood and waited for the drill to end. 

The wall where we stood is still there. It is still there. And in a corner of my mind I can still see my mother standing there next to me and waiting and not talking. I still can feel that wall against the left side of my little body through my brown tweed coat. Then it was over, and we walked to my Grandmother's house.

That wall, that wall....