A NORTH HOLLYWOOD ENDING
Went by the emptied
Dutton’s Books on Laurel Canyon
& was surprised to see
Bukowski, Spillane, Capote & Wilde
on the sidewalk in front…
looking sad and somewhat bewildered.
Was that a tear on Charles?
of course not! don’t be silly!
and just because Mickey
was wiping his nose
didn’t mean…
The picture of Oscar Wilde
was one of gloom…
Truman looked devastated.
The sadness was too heavy;
I turned to go,
and then I saw them…
thousands of men & women of letters,
led by Shakespeare,
Cervantes and Mark Twain,
followed by Dorothy Parker,
e.e. cummings, James Baldwin,
the Bronté sisters, Juan Ramón Jiménez…
they marched in front
in silent protest,
then they were gone.
The building remains.