record player
antique concept
floppy disks
worthless now
ironing board
they were once a commodity in every home
now they used only by tailors and dry cleaners
or men who want really crisp collars on their shirts
college boulevard
college hamburgers
college dry cleaners
college day care center
college café
college laundromat.
I have a feeling we are close to the college I say.
My husband has no idea, watching the road like he is.
If lawyers get de-barred and clergymen de-frocked
Does it naturally follow and make sense
That electricians are de-lighted and cowboys de-ranged?
Need some answers, no sitting on the fence!
Can a motorist be de-fined, or a balloon be de-flated
This silliness surely must stop
Do dead mailmen de-liver, are old ships de-ported
Better stop before I call a burly cop
Do musicians get de-noted, dry cleaners de-pressed?
Now hold on, I'm getting quite upset
Can models be de-posed, do tree surgeons de-bark?
Haven't heard any answers as yet
Do skirts get de-pleted, has your hair been de-parted?
This must be some kind of a plot
Artists quit by de-sign, symphonies de-compose?
I think about de-strings a lot!
A broken zipper
Can happen any time
When it does-
It does happen
It is at the wrong time
Rushing to be outside
The zipper would break
On a winter jacket
Or a pair of jeans
A change in a zipper
Is what is needed
A winter jacket
That is different
When nothing else
to wear
Go to the dry cleaners
They send it out
When returned
The charge would be
a three digit
For a payment job done
In a Bangkok dry cleaners window, “Drop your trousers here”
But they get lots of curious people with nothing to clean I fear
Takes all kinds it seems
Making up the world's scene
But this takes the cake or maybe I just mishearded
In a Bangkok dry cleaners window, “Drop your trousers here”
But they get lots of curious people with nothing to clean I fear
Takes all kinds it seems
Making up the world's scene
But this takes the cake or maybe I just misheard
In a Bangkok dry cleaners window, “Drop your trousers here”
But they get lots of curious people with nothing to clean I fear
Takes all kinds it seems
Making up the world's scene
But this takes the cake or maybe I just misheared
He served me up an ice cream sundae on a trey,
with only one cherry on top to my dismay,
instead asked the maitre dee for a parfait,
he said roger that I'll bring it back with no delay,
And while at the cafe I overheard a lady saying she wanted to sue,
angry about the dry cleaners ruining her rose suit,
I just went about my way the story getting harry,
next thing I knew my boyfriend asked me to mary me,
We ended up getting married on a summer's eve,
but my new husbands colin burst when he let out a sneeze,
using a philips screwdriver that was up my sleeve,
we put it back now intact with one les bill to grieve,
Then later I managed to get stuck in the john,
my husband jimmied the lock and I was gone,
soon things started to get back to newlywed norm,
each day waking up for our jobs at the break of dawn,
Afterwards for 9 months ate nothing but pickles and candy,
suddenly I felt my luke warm water break which was jim dandy,
now baby makes three which means more to cary,
along with our pet tomcat whom we named scaredy.
11-10-16
What's up with dry cleaners
What is it that they do
They're using nothing wet
What's this potion they use
Take our clothes to the back
Come back they're on the rack
You never smell anything on your clothes
What goes on in the back do you suppose
There's no sound of any machines going
Are they scraping with their nails, then blowing
Metal hangers, Ferris wheel of clothes
What actually goes on, nobody knows
Their always there to meet you at the desk
Why does it take a couple days, this quest
There can't be much room in the back of the place
The merry go round takes most of the space
Have you ever known someone in this business
Does it seem to you a little suspicious
No dry cleaners equipment ever for sale
To do the job, what does it entail
No matter how old, the business remains
Even the signs are old, no one complains
Next time your there, try to get to the back
Get some information, and get some facts
Maybe they send the clothes out somewhere
Don't you think we should be at least aware
About an hour later she slipped
Yuri Andropov into the conversation:
*“I have to drop off a blouse at the dry cleaners.”*
Suddenly it was May Day &
I’m back in Red Square,
Dwarfed beneath larger than life
Lenin, Engels & Marx mug shots.
Inter-continental ballistic lorry loads
Roll past the reviewing stand, while
Geezer Reds in Ushanka fur hats,
Soused on *Stoli,* reeking of borscht,
Chain-smoke cheap Soviet Belomors.
I share these thoughts, handing
Mrs. Khrushchev the car keys.
Having cowered herself in terror,
Having ducked & covered many
Burial promises & shoe-pound threats,
She gives me a tired babushka smirk.
We are conjugal Cold Warriors,
Both weary now, creeping up on 70,
Skirmishes & brinksmanship behind us.
Tolerant of each other at last;
Lukewarm *détente* between us.
What is it about a Wizard's appearance that gives me pause? I
always find myself guessing about what type of lurid surreptitious
act of debauchery is practiced within the confines of such nonsensical
attire.
You always seem to run into one of these super naturalists in the dark
recesses of some ancient dim lit pub swilling grog by candle lite.
Come on, would you allow an eighty year old guy with a white beard
down to his navel, wearing a robe that hasn't seen a dry cleaners in
a fortnight, toting a six foot gnarled hard wood staff, into your bar?
The guy won't even take that floppy wide brimmed cone shaped hat
off when he comes inside.
And another thing, he's always on a quest, never just out for a cold one.
I don't know, this has just always bothered me a little...
The corporation offers logo wear
Dazzling subsidized cafes
State of the art fitness centers
They bring the dentist, dry cleaners
And hair stylist to you
No need to leave our campus
Ever! Never! Never!
You won’t be able to resist
“Resistance is futile” sayeth the Borg
But do strive to maintain
A healthy work/life balance!
Productivity depends on it!
We are a big happy family!
With a bottom line
You won’t see it coming
You won’t know it’s happening
A slow chronic progression to blindness
Like whiskey, the collective seduces you
Along the way you will be anointed
With undeniable proof of your value:
Bonuses and stock options land in your lap
Awards and AmEx gift cards appear on your desk
Until you can no longer abjure
‘Tis best to surrender and demur
You have incorporated into the corporation
Your cultish obedience has turned
To Stockholm Syndrome
There, there now...Reeeeeeeeeeelllaaaaaaaaaaxxxxxxxx
Don’t struggle! Do abide!
There, there now...doesn’t that feel better?
If lawyers get de-barred and clergymen de-frocked
Does it naturally follow and make sense
That electricians are de-lighted and cowboys de-ranged?
Need some answers, no sitting on the fence!
Can a motorist be de-fined, a balloon's mood de-flated
This silliness surely must stop
Do dead mailmen de-liver, are old ships de-ported
Better stop before I call a burly cop
Do musicians get de-noted, dry cleaners de-pressed?
Now hold on, I'm getting quite upset
Can models be de-posed, do tree surgeons de-bark?
Haven't heard any answers as yet
Do skirts get de-pleted, has your hair been de-parted?
This must be some kind of a plot
Artists quit by de-sign, symphonies de-compose?
I think about de's things a lot!
© Jack Ellison 2013
NO WINTER THIS YEAR! NO NONE AT ALL!
no winter this year, no! none at all!
the ducks dilly dally, honeybees in the fall!
my dry cleaners said "no need for your coat!
I'll get to it when, I dock my sailboat!"
anthills getting bigger, their soldiers don't hurry!
I checked the forecast, no chance of a flurry!
the blueberry tea, I've been served alfresco,
stays quite piping hot! thank you Ernesto!
my finest snow angel, about to appear,
must take a raincheck! with Santa's Reindeer!
the heavens above, must surely have reasons,
postponing ice fishing, and blurring the seasons!
I'll wait two more weeks, before I declare!
"remove thin-ice signs! steep drop-off beware!"
The constant blatant bluff of city sparrows
Hardened to the streets of swift survival
Greeting every morning as if it were their last
For every morsel found another rival
Fluttering and muttering of other broken fasts
They shelter in the shadows of sunken city windows
Puffed up dry and fending off the colder calm of night
They have some secret places if they're desperate in need
Near the open transom above the bakery door
Or the old dry cleaners chimney where the bricks are falling in
Some are on the belfry floor soaking up the heat
Huddled with the pigeons fluffs of feathers minus feet
They've all learned the game of living with hunger and with not
They don't know any better and are happy with their lot
and if you try to help them they'll suspect it's just a plot
So go your way and leave them to sort out what they've got
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