Posted by Atticus on September 29, 2004, at 11:18:23
Elf Storage
Ribbed riot-gate sheets of somber gray steel
Sprout flashy splashy spray-paint blossoms
In graffiti greenhouse hanging gardens,
Rainbow-rich riotous eruptions planted
By Van Gogh taggers and Picasso gang-bangers,
Gaudy graphic silent violence draped
Across steadfast stoic rows
Of rust-encrusted regimented ranks,
Square metal portals padlocked
Into a forlorn drab military parade-rest formation
Set amid leprous discolored
Crumbling tumbling cement walls
Under a degraded faded jaded sign
That proclaims “elf Storage” in once-white letters
Now yellowed and crooked and chipped
Like the teeth of a homeless hopeless giant.I regard the words with bemused eyes,
Then crunch across a minefield
Of broken glass and twisted bits of nails
Hidden among ragged clumps of thistle gristle
To slip through a slashed gash in a chain-link fence
And press my ear to one of the psychedelic doors,
Half-hoping to hear some muffled clatter,
The patter of tiny tools and
Shrill high-pitched elfish chatter,
But only the sweet scent of decay
Wafts to me from within this abattoir,
And it’s probably dead rats,
But I imagine tiny workers
With doll-like delicate skilled fingers
Now arthritic and past their prime
Led to this God-forsaken place
By a red-coated bearded basta*d
With no retirement plan in mind.
I’ve never seen an elderly elf
In any saccharine-packed Christmas special,
But I ain’t gonna fu** with Santa,
I think, lighting up a cig,
So I trudge back to the sidewalk
And head for a pub to inhale a drink.
-- Atticus
poster:Atticus
thread:396805
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/write/20040925/msgs/396805.html