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.
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...
ReplyDeleteNW - 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.
ReplyDeleteGI