Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO A WATCH LEFT IN A HOTEL ROOM, by DEBORA GREGER


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO A WATCH LEFT IN A HOTEL ROOM, by                    
First Line: Not long ago the sun was shining
Subject(s): Hotels; Loss; Watches; Inns; Innskeepers; Motels; Boarding Houses


Miser Catulle, desinas ineptire,
et quod uides perisse perditum ducas.
-- Catullus

Not long ago the sun was shining,
the desk clerk claimed, taking back the key
to room 403. My watch still under the pillow,
though I didn't know it yet --

Moonface, you never raised a voice in alarm.
Now you're in the limbo of Lost and Found,
a shoebox under the check-in counter.
Or on the wrist of the chambermaid's daughter.

She might close her book and open a window
on the larger matter of New York,
seen from a fire escape in an outer borough.
O strand of pearls, O nightly traffic jam!

Not long ago the moon was shining,
the pages of dead poets go on claiming.
O sweater forgotten on a chair,
O fog that snagged on a skyscraper!

O watch, I'll miss your clever hands.
For whom does your face glow now
in the dark? Cheap little timepiece,
who'll find you beautiful?

Copyright © Debora Greger







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