Collected Poems of John Holmes
Holmes, John A., Jr.
2002
Sweetly solemn thought
Sweetly solemn thought
How many a lady sweet and kind Will pass completely from my mind; What lively nights of luck and laughter, With aspirin and seltzer after; What third-rate novels ballyhooed, And dreadful plays too well reviewed, Will leave me feeling simply rotten, But soon thereafter be forgotten? What pay cheeks cashed and quickly spent With loud lugubrious lament; How long a list of hopes defeated, And private promises repeated; How many a stupid thing to say, How much light work and heavy play; What history perhaps in headlines, And college friends perhaps in breadlines, Must all be done, endured, and said, And added up, and so to bed, Before the final, far-off lick That finishes this shaving-stick? | |