ONE NIGHT STAY by Howie Good
An old man with eyes like dead sparrows
is telling a story at the next table
in the restaurant of the Quality Inn
in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, something
about the price of scrap metal after the war.
Suddenly he lowers his voice. The Jews,
he mutters. My wife and I look at each other.
Meat hooks. Gas chambers.
Our daughter notices. What? she asks.
I shake my head. We finish eating
and go up to our $74-a-night room
and all lie on one bed and watch TV.
The studio audience is laughing.
November 8, 2009 at 6:46 am
Howie Good, a journalism professor at the State University
of New York at New Paltz, is the author of 11 poetry
chapbooks, including Still Life with Firearms (2009) from
Right Hand Pointing, Visiting the Dead (2009) from Flutter
Press, and My Heart Draws a Rough Map (2009) from The Blue
Hour Press. He has been nominated four times for a
Pushcart Prize and five times for the Best of the Net
anthology. His first full-length book of poetry, Lovesick,
was released in 2009 by Press Americana.
November 8, 2009 at 2:13 pm
An understated poem with such profound implications. An amazing poem–
November 9, 2009 at 12:17 am
powerful, great piece with
a stark & disturbing ending…
November 11, 2009 at 12:11 am
the ending is a real clencher!
November 12, 2009 at 12:21 am
thanks to everyone who took the time to respond, and thanks especially for the generous responses.