RUMMAGE
THROUGH ME
Back in Elmira, at the Mark Twain Hotel,
they were holding a sale of all their stuff.
Dishes and plates and creamers and towels -
anything you think of like that. The big,
old hotel was closing up, and it was 1975.
I strolled right in through the tattered
carpet lobby and sat me down on a
big, stuffed chair. One of the last;
things was goin' fast.
-
The light was striking through the smudgy
glass - curtains and carpet all soiled and torn.
The piano lobby was a real nice place, a
few steps up and a few steps down.
A side room, a nice bar, and a banquet
room too. Things were pretty swank,
but it was all through.
-
We sometimes outgrow our points of
life like a garment too old to keep...
Sleeves don't fit, elbows worn,
no matter how we try to keep neat.
Back in Elmira, at the Mark Twain Hotel,
they were holding a sale of all their stuff.
Dishes and plates and creamers and towels -
anything you think of like that. The big,
old hotel was closing up, and it was 1975.
I strolled right in through the tattered
carpet lobby and sat me down on a
big, stuffed chair. One of the last;
things was goin' fast.
-
The light was striking through the smudgy
glass - curtains and carpet all soiled and torn.
The piano lobby was a real nice place, a
few steps up and a few steps down.
A side room, a nice bar, and a banquet
room too. Things were pretty swank,
but it was all through.
-
We sometimes outgrow our points of
life like a garment too old to keep...
Sleeves don't fit, elbows worn,
no matter how we try to keep neat.
2 comments:
this poem is lucid and untypical of the GI who basks in the erudite. Love it to death. I can smell the mildew in the carpet now...
NW - Glad you found the piece likable. It was fun, it was real (actually occurred). I spun it from memory - didn't really find a way to end it, so left it open-ended, which still works. I liked it. Long time ago / long way to go.
GI
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