SILENCE

All is silence
The wine glass lies in a dusty pile of shards under a sagging banquette
Its days of ruby merlot and sparkling conversation long past
Ripped curtains lazily reveal hesitant sunlight through streaked panes
Quietly filtering through the cobwebs in a silent room not meant to be so
Locked tight, bolted shut, only spiders now at work
Where once glamour and gaiety, taffeta and tuxedos, ruled the evening
Where Les Brown and Doris Day, Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee, Harry James
And a skinny newcomer called Frank Sinatra might have plied their musical wares
The folks who passed through the doors to that musical experience on any
Given Saturday night have been passing through a golden set of gates instead
For decades, leaving others behind to carry on
Their traditions
Their ethics
Their values
Their mores
Others have failed
All is silence
Perhaps the muted strains of Tex Beneke's "The More I See You"
Can be heard through the veil of time and space if you listen hard enough
No
It's a lonely wind, moaning of lost love, brave souls, epic times and Sacrifice
Every generation has their lost loves, brave souls, epic times and Sacrifice
Will we just as soon forget ours today as yesterday
Leaving only the wind to remember
No answer
All is silence
All silence
Silence

GDL 2004

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